Welcome Home
by sa7rah
Summary: When Gabriella Montez moves back to Albuquerque with her two daughters after a messy divorce, falling in love is the last thing she has on her mind until she runs into her ex-boyfriend Troy Bolton.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I am currently basking in the warm L.A. sunshine for the long Martin Luther King weekend and got inspired to write a new story. Which I probably shouldn't be starting a new one considering that I still have quite a few chapters of OBYAM left. It will also be quite different than OBYAM and will feature more of Troy's perspective.**

Gabriella Montez was pushing her cart down the aisles to _Matt's Grocery and Liquor. _At the age of thirty-seven she had just moved back to her hometown in New Mexico after living in Connecticut for fifteen years. She had rented a new house that she intended to start her life over in, along with her two daughters Emma and Mia.

It was a difficult decision to make. She just finished divorcing her husband of fifteen years and had almost nothing left. She had eloped with Tom Shwartz, with out a pre-nuptial agreement, at the ages of twenty-two and twenty-four and nine months later their daughter, Emma was born followed by Mia four years later. Her jackass of an ex-husband had at least given her their daughters without a fight. He'd taken just about everything else, their house, their money, and everything in their house except for her and her daughters' clothes and a few of their daughter's possessions.

At this point, her two girls was the only thing keeping her sane.

Picking up a loaf of whole grain bread, she saw her two daughters come down the aisle toward her with some marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers. "Mama, can we get these? We can make smores when we have a bonfire!" Little ten year Mia asked her.

"Sure honey." She smiled down at the little girl. She was doing well considering she had just moved across the country. Her other daughter, she was more worried about. It had originally been Emma's idea to move. Everywhere they went in their small town, people gave them looks of pity. The divorce had been messy, and the town was quite fond of gossip. It was hard enough for the girl to find out her father didn't want to see her anymore, but seeing the people whisper about her father's affair at school had made things almost unbearable. As if high school wasn't difficult to deal with, this had come along and shaken up their lives. It had become too much for the fourteen year old girl to deal with and she had asked her mom if they could go somewhere that no one would know what had happened and they could start over.

That was how she ended up in Albuquerque. Gabriella had talked to her boss, and managed to secure a job in her hometown. She then contacted her mother, informing her that they intended on moving back. Maria had found a house that her daughter and granddaughters could rent for a few months until they decided on buying a house permanently. The house had a bonfire pit in the backyard which excited the girls because they could all sit around the fire all year round without having to worry about the cold Connecticut winters.

Moving so suddenly had brought many stresses. With the help of her mother and a few friends, she had managed to fill their temporary home with some furniture but they still needed some essentials such as plates and silverware. They had either eaten out or at her mother's house. Gabriella now needed to finish enrolling her daughters in their new schools and meet with her new boss. She was overwhelmed with everything that had happened and moving was difficult.

"Anything else girls?" They were finishing up their trip to the grocery store. "Emma, anything in particular that you want?"

"No." Emma had inherited her mother's looks and her father's stature. She had long brown curly hair and brown eyes, but was very skinny like her father. Not that Gabriella was fat, she was just curvier than her daughter.

"You sure?" Gabriella was really worried about Emma. She'd become very quiet and reserved the past few weeks. She didn't blame her, it was a lot to take in.

"I'm sure Mom." Emma was ready to leave the grocery store now. "I'm hungry and all this food isn't helping much."

"Okay then, let's go." She pushed the full cart toward the check out lanes and her daughters trailed behind her.

* * *

The next day Gabriella woke up to the sound of the alarm she had set on her cell phone. An alarm clock was one of those things she had forgotten about whilst she was preparing her move. She rolled over, feeling a small body next to her. She saw ten year old Mia stirring awake. The girl had come into her bed sometime during the night. Smiling at her, she brushed the little girls curls behind her ear. She was desperately trying to understand why she wasn't going to see her daddy anymore and why they had to move out of their home. None of the three girls had seen it coming and the youngest was dealing with it as much as she could.

Today the three girls would head to East Elementary School and East High School, both of which Gabriella had attended in her childhood. She was a bit nervous, she never knew who she would run into whilst walking around Albuquerque. She had yet to figure out what she would say when people asked what she was doing in Albuquerque. She couldn't say, 'Oh, my husband left me for some twenty-two year old, took all my money, and left me with our two kids.' No, she definitely could not say that.

"Mia, wake up sweetie." Gabriella said softly while rubbing her daughter's back. "We need to go see your new school."

"Do we have to Mama? I like staying home with you all day." Mia tiredly asked her mother. The two girls had un-enrolled from their schools a week ago and were dreading starting their new schools in Albuquerque.

"Yes Mia, you can't stay home forever." Gabriella chuckled at her daughter's request. She loved spending time with her daughters, but they couldn't stay home forever.

"What if the kids don't like me?" Of course Mia was scared of the new kids. She, however, would probably have an easy time making new friends. At the age of ten, cliques hadn't really taken over and wouldn't prevent Mia from fitting in.

"Well, you will never know that they don't like you until you actually meet them, will you?" Gabriella knew that Mia wouldn't have too hard of a time fitting in although, it would be a little scary for the little girl.

"I guess not." Mia knew her mom was right.

"Okay, well I have to shower. Will you go make sure your sister is awake? If she isn't, wake her up, nicely though, okay? No yelling in her ear please. And then get dressed and brush your hair." Gabriella knew better than to have her Mia wake up her sister, Emma would not be pleased.

"Okay Mama." Gabriella kissed Mia's forehead and stood up to grab her clothes for the day and walked into the attached bathroom to start the water for the shower.

* * *

Walking into East High School with her eldest daughter was something Gabriella had never imagined doing. Not much had changed since she had last been there, there was new tile on the floor and the lockers had been repainted a few times, but everything was in the same place as it had been when she had attended the school. It was like taking a walk down memory lane, as she walked down the halls of her old high school toward the main office. She hadn't been to see the principal many times in her high school career, but she remembered exactly where it was. Walking into the office, she confirmed her appointment with the secretary, who told her and Emma, to take a seat and the principal would be out to speak with her shortly.

She could hear two men conversing as the door that was labeled 'Vice Principal' opened. Looking up she saw a tall man with brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes walk out. She didn't know what they were talking about, but she attempted to make herself as invisible as possible as the man walked toward the door located near the chairs. Obviously, it didn't work too well.

"Gabriella?" She heard Troy's voice. He sounded exactly the same.

"Hi Troy." She greeted and stood up.

"What are you doing here?" He held his arms open to her.

After hugging him she spoke, "Well, we are enrolling that one," she pointed at Emma, "here at the lovely East High School. What are you doing here?"

"I'm a teacher here, and the basketball coach. I can't believe you're back! How long have you been here?" Troy's was excited, his high school sweetheart had apparently just moved back to Albuquerque.

"Following in the footsteps of your father I see. We just moved three days ago." It had only been three days and Gabriella had managed to run into her ex-boyfriend.

"Not exactly. I'm teaching English, ninth grade American Literature and eleventh grade European Classics. What are you doing? Are you a doctor? Lawyer?" Everyone thought great things would come out of Gabriella when she had graduated.

"I'm a bio-chemist." Gabriella smiled. Everyone had thought she'd be a doctor or a lawyer. She had married a lawyer however, a lawyer that was a lot better at his job than he'd ever let onto.

"Impressive. Chad and Taylor will never believe that I saw you." Troy brought up their high school friends. The four had been unseperable when they were teenagers.

"No way! You kept in contact with them? Are they still together?" Gabriella quickly lost touch with her high school friends, especially after her and Troy broke their relationship. They had been in love, but it wasn't their time.

"Yeah, I was the best man at their wedding. Taylor wanted to invite you, but she had no idea where you were. They have four kids now." Taylor and Chad had gotten married when they were twenty-six.

"Your kidding! Four? I can't imagine how crazy they all are." Taylor and Chad had an interesting relationship. They seemed to argue more than anyone else.

"Yeah, it's kind of crazy what's happened with them. I still can't believe that Taylor quit her job to be a stay at home mom and Chad has a job in the corporate world." Taylor had aspirations to be a politician and she had made herself clear that she was going to be the next president.

"Wow, I've missed a lot. How old are their kids?" Gabriella was curious as to what her best friend from high school was up to.

"The oldest is ten, then seven, three, and two months." That was a lot of kids, in not a lot of time.

"My youngest is ten, she's at my mom's. Emma here is fourteen." Emma waved awkwardly. She had no clue who this man was.

"My son is fifteen. Maybe you will be in one of my English classes." Troy spoke partially to Gabriella, partially to her daughter Emma.

Gabriella felt a little bit of a pang in her heart when Troy spoke of his son. There had been a point in her life when she thought that she would be the mother of his kids. Shaking off the thought, she thought she was being immature. That was almost twenty years ago. She noticed he wasn't wearing a wedding ring though.

"You know what? We should get together and catch up sometime. Have dinner maybe." Troy knew he would have to leave soon. Fourth period was almost over and he would have to get back to his classroom for fifth period but he desperately wanted to spend more time with Gabriella. She had mysteriously moved back to Albuquerque and wasn't wearing a wedding ring. Maybe they could stand a chance at having a relationship.

"Umm… sure." Gabriella hadn't done anything social since her divorce but would feel bad rejecting Troy. The divorce was still very recent and she just wasn't sure if she was ready to go out yet. She hadn't even thought about dating. It was too soon.

"Great, uh, one sec." He turned around and grabbed a pen and scrap piece of paper from the secretary. "Do you want to write your phone number down? I'll give you a call with more details."

"Sure." Gabriella hesitantly wrote down her digits. This was moving really fast.

"I'll talk to you later Gabriella." Troy hugged her one more time before leaving the office. Gabriella sat back down.

"Who was that?" Emma questioned in disbelief. Three days in Albuquerque and her mother had already been asked out on a date, in her high school non less.

"Remember when I told you about my boyfriend from high school?" Looking at her daughter, Gabriella saw her nod her head, "That was him."

Emma's eyes widened. Her mother had told her the story of how she fell head over heels for a boy in high school that she thought she would marry.

"Gabriella Montez?" The principal finally came out of his office. The two stood up to walk into his office.

* * *

The meeting with both her daughter's principals had gone well. They would be starting school after the weekend. Emma and her were going to Gabriella's mother's house to pick up Mia, who had been staying there while they visited the high school. Walking in, she saw her mother and Mia sitting at the counter making some sort of art project with bendy straws.

"Were back." Gabriella spoke to notify her mother and daughter that they were in the house again.

"How'd it go?" Maria asked. She knew her daughter and granddaughters were going to be in for a rough time.

"It went well. Emma is all set to start on Monday." Gabriella smiled, her oldest daughter was growing up. She had a hard time believing that she was already in high school.

"Well, that sounds great. So, do you guys want to stay for dinner? I can ask Marcus to pick up some Chinese on his way home from work." Maria spoke of her husband. Maria had gotten remarried a few years ago to a wonderful man Gabriella approved of.

"Do you girls want to? We can eat at home if you want or we can stay here." She wasn't sure if her daughters were getting tired of take out or eating out.

"I want Chinese." Mia spoke up. She would eat anything put in front of her.

"That sounds fine with me." Emma said.

"So, do you girls want to go find the take out menu? It's in one of the drawers in the office." The girls stood up and went to decide on what they wanted to eat. "How are you doing?" Maria asked her daughter.

"I'm fine, guess who I saw today?" Gabriella wanted her mother's opinion on what had happened today.

"Who?" Maria was curious. Gabriella hadn't meet anyone since she moved, so it had to be someone from high school.

"Troy. He asked me out." Gabriella bluntly said.

"Really?" Maria was shocked. Her daughter had run into her ex-boyfriend who asked her out. "What did you say?"

"I said yes but I felt like I couldn't turn him down, he was such a sweet guy that I would feel bad if I did." Gabriella continued, "But I don't know if I am ready to start dating. It has barely been a month since the divorce."

"I know, but maybe it'll be good to get out for a little. Troy would understand if you just wanted to be friends." Maria had always been a fan of Troy. He was Maria's favorite boyfriend Gabriella had ever had.

"I just don't know if I am ready to trust someone like that. Tom lied to me for years." It wasn't that Troy was the problem, it was herself.

"Well, just go out, see what happens, and have some fun. All you have done since the divorce is worry about how you were going to make everything work. Go out, have a drink maybe, and have fun Gabriella." Maria felt Gabriella needed to make new friends here in Albuquerque and maybe there was a reason Gabriella had run into Troy.

"Okay Mom." The conversation ended when Emma and Mia walked back into the kitchen with the take out menu.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, chapter two is here! I hope everyone likes it! Sorry, it kind of jumps around a lot. I wrote this today because my plans got canceled because it is -17 degrees (F) where I live. **

**If any of you are reading my other story,'An Ocean Between You and Me' this story is going to be quite different from it. It is going to be a lot more 'fluffy' and it will have a lot more of Troy's thoughts/life. AOBYM will be updated soon! I have the next chapter almost finished.**

**As always, thanks to my lovely reviewers! I read each and every one of them.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Troy Bolton woke up to the not so sweet tune of his alarm clock. He lay sprawled out on his stomach with his face in his pillow. There was no one lying next to him. No one to wake up to. No one to fall asleep next to. There hadn't been anyone in his bed in fifteen years now. Ever since she left, he couldn't seem to find anyone to replace her.

He didn't want to get up. Now he sounded like his teenage son. Forcing himself out of bed, he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. While he waited for the shower to heat up, he went to make sure his son was up. Actually, he went to wake his son up. He was never up at this time.

"Alex! Come on wake up! It's 6:30." He said as he knocked on the door. His fifteen-year-old son was exactly like him when he was a teenager. He overslept, ate tons of food, and played soccer, unlike Troy.

It was just another Monday in the life of Troy Bolton. He sighed; he needed something new in his life.

After finishing his shower, he pulled on a pair of jeans and put on a blue polo. One of the things he liked about his job was that he got the opportunity to dress casually everyday. He definitely wasn't a suit and tie person.

Troy put four bagels in the toaster, two for him and two for Alex. As Alex trudged down stairs, he grabbed the milk out of the refrigerator along with some pineapple. Troy spread cream cheese on the bagels as Alex poured the milk in two glasses. They sat down at the table. Breakfast was the meal, that no matter what, the two always ate together. Lunch was obviously too hard, especially since Alex wouldn't be caught dead eating lunch at school with his father. Dinner, they usually ate together but with sports was kind of difficult sometimes.

"Did you get your geometry homework done?" Troy asked his son. He kept using the 'soccer is taking too much time' excuse to not do his homework. The season had ended this week though, so he was running out of excuses.

"No, I just don't get it." Alex replied.

"Then you need to ask for help or figure it out by yourself somehow, Alex. You can't keep letting your grades slip like this." Alex had never had spectacular grades, but got B's consistently, and now his grade was slipping down to a low C-. "If you even want to try out for the basketball team, you need to get your grade up and keep it there. You know that if it gets to be a D, you're off the team."

"I know Dad." Alex grumbled. His dad was concerned about his grades, but he didn't care all that much if he got a C, as long as he wouldn't get kicked off any of his sports teams. "So did you call that girl yet?"

Unfortunately for Troy, Alex had found the piece of paper Gabriella's phone number had been written on while it was lying on his desk. Alex had a key to his classroom and he had left Alex some money that was folded in between a note on his desk. Alex's eyes had been attracted to the phone number written in girly handwriting that he had accidentally left out.

"No, I haven't." Troy didn't want to seem too desperate and call her right away. He thought he would give it a day or two. Gabriella was probably busy anyway since her daughters were starting school today. "I think I will call her sometime today."

"Good, you haven't been on a date in a while." Alex teased his father. He wasn't going to lie; he knew it was time for his dad to find a girlfriend. He had a few relationships that didn't amount to anything in the past.

"It is not going to be a date. Gabriella and I are going to go to dinner to catch up with each other's lives. That's all it is." Troy couldn't believe that he pretty much asked Gabriella out within ten minutes of seeing her. He had to admit though, he had thought about her a lot since he had run into her again.

"Okay Dad, dinner with your ex-girlfriend. Definitely not a date." Alex smirked at his dad, he was right but his father was too stubborn to admit it.

"Definitely not a date." Troy repeated, however he was not sure who he was trying to convince, Alex or himself.

"Ready Bud?" He asked as he stood up and ruffled his son's wet hair on the way to put his dishes in the dishwasher. Alex had been his main nickname considering his name was Alexander, but Troy had called him 'buddy' when he was younger and continued to sometimes in private.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Alex left the kitchen to get his backpack and shoes from the closet before they both got into Troy's car to head to school.

* * *

"Are you ready girls?" Gabriella shouted upstairs. Her daughters had gone up to brush their teeth before they left for school. Mia ran down the stairs, she seemed pretty excited for her first day of school considering she had been afraid just a few days ago.

"Ready Mama!" Mia exclaimed.

"Wow, somebody's energetic this morning. Why don't you go get in the car? Emma and I will meet you there." Gabriella instructed her youngest daughter. She started school twenty minutes after Emma, so Gabriella could drop them both off at school this morning.

As Mia grabbed her backpack, her slightly less energetic but more nervous daughter came down the stairs. "I think I'm going to throw up." Emma mentioned.

Gabriella smiled weakly at her daughter, "It is just nerves honey. Think of how great it will be to get today over with." She tried to bring a positive aspect into the situation.

"Are you sure I look okay Mom?" Emma knew high schoolers were hard to please, and she wanted to look good so that she wouldn't get criticized by her looks. She was wearing a blue floral dress with a black cardigan.

"You look great honey, honestly." Emma knew her mother would always say she looked okay, but would stop her if she thought she didn't look appropriate for school. "You ready?"

"I guess." With that Emma picked up her blue and purple printed backpack.

Gabriella walked over to her daughter and gave her a hug. "You will do find Emma, trust me." She whispered into her daughter's ear.

As they pulled out of their driveway, Emma became more nervous. When they arrived at school, she seemed to be glued to her seat. "Emma, you have to go in sometime." Gabriella said and reached over to squeeze her daughter's hand in reassurance. "It s one day and I am just a phone call away if you need me."

"Okay Mom." Emma closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"I love you Em." Gabriella gave three last words before her daughter opened the door.

"Love you too Mom." Emma returned before she stepped out of the car. "You will be here at three?"

"Three o'clock sharp, I promise." Gabriella smiled at Emma, "Have a good day!"

"Bye Mom." She said her final words before she closed the car door and walked away. She turned back to look at Gabriella one last time, and Gabriella waved to her. As she pulled her car out of the parking lot, she saw Troy exiting a car, with whom she assumed to be his son, and walking to the front. He must have seen her too, because he waved and walked over to her car.

Rolling down her window as he approached her car she said, "Hi Troy."

"Hey, how are you?" Troy replied. Now he felt bad for not calling her. He didn't want her to feel like he had forgotten about her.

"I'm okay, how about you?" Gabriella would have thought it was strange running into him twice in four days, but considering he worked at her daughter's new high school, it was not that strange.

"I'm good. So, first day of school?" He questioned when he saw Gabriella's younger daughter sitting in the back seat with her backpack next to her.

"Yeah, first day. A little scary." Gabriella smiled at him, "Emma doesn't have you for English, we got her schedule when we were here the other day."

"That's okay, the other English teacher is great, I assure you." Troy smiled back at her. At least she had thought about him, even if it was just while checking her daughter's schedule. "I know you are probably busy, but I was going to call you today. I was kind of busy this weekend."

"That's fine, I don't start work until Wednesday. I still have to meet with my boss." Gabriella was happy he was busy and that was the reason he had not called her yet.

"I'll let you go, I don't want your daughter to be late on her first day of school." Troy had to get to his classroom too. "Bye Gabi, I will call you later." Troy let slip one of Gabriella's high school nicknames.

"Bye Troy." Gabriella said in farewell. She wanted to talk to him longer, but knew she had to leave.

"Who was that Mama?" Mia asked from the back. Gabriella forgot that Mia hadn't been at East High when they had run into Troy.

"That was my friend from High School when I went to this school. His name is Troy." Gabriella began to exit the school to drive the short distance to East Elementary.

"Oh. Is he a teacher at Emma's school?" Mia questioned about the mystery man.

"Yes he it." Gabriella replied. They sat in silence for a minute until Gabriella spoke up again. "Are you excited to go back to school?"

"Yeah, I am. Did you see how cool the school was went we visited Mama? And my teacher was super nice." Mia had gotten a different view on starting at a new school. East Elementary was two levels and had newer technologies compared to Mia's old school.

"I did honey. Remember I told you I used to go to East?" Gabriella had enjoyed her years at the various East Albuquerque schools. She had meet Troy in elementary school.

Instead of dropping Mia off at the front door, she was going to walk her to her classroom. After pulling into a parking spot, Gabriella twisted around to look at Mia with a large smile on her face, "Should we go in?"

"Yeah, lets go!" Gabriella walked with Mia, who had skipped into the building, and assured she had made it to class before saying their farewells.

It was just after one o'clock when Gabriella had arrived home. After bringing her daughters to school, she had gone home shortly to change before going to her new office to have a meeting with her boss. Things had gone smoothly and they had discussed her new job. Luckily, her old boss had given her a positive review and her new job was almost identical to her old one.

Settling down on her couch, she had free time for the first time in almost a week. It was also the first time that her daughters had been away from her since the move. These moments were when she felt alone. She was beginning to realize that she didn't have a man coming home to her. She didn't have a man to have dinner with every night. She didn't have anyone to fall asleep or wake up next too. These were the worst moments.

A few minutes later her phone began to ring. Her heart began to beat with excitement. Maybe Troy was calling her finally.

"Hello?" Gabriella answered her phone.

"Is this Gabriella?" She recognized his voice. Troy had finally called.

"Yes, hello Troy. How are you?" She wanted to know how his day went.

"I'm still good. How was your day?" Troy's deep voice replied through the phone.

"It went good. Hopefully the girl's have been having a good day too. What are you doing?" Gabriella assumed he must have a free period if he was calling her at one in the afternoon.

"I am just about to grade some papers. I have a free period. What are you doing?' Troy wanted to find out as much about her as possible.

"I just got home from meeting my new boss. Now I'm just going to read I think." Gabriella was happy that he had some sort of interest in her.

"That sounds good." Troy paused, when he didn't get a response he decided he would just go with it and ask her out. "I was thinking we could maybe go out to dinner this week if that works for you. There is this really good Italian restaurant I went to a few weeks ago with some friends that I think you will enjoy."

"That sounds great. Do you think that Friday will work? I want to be home this weekend with the girls." Gabriella was excited to be asked out. She had never imagined that she would be going on a date, willingly, so quickly after her divorce.

"Friday should be fine. Alex will probably be going to a friend's house after school anyway. Is 7:30 okay?" Troy was trying to repress his excitement.

"7:30 sounds great Troy. I'll see you then." Gabriella knew she had to end the conversation soon.

"Bye Gabriella." Troy smiled at the conversation.

"Bye Troy, see you on Friday." He heard before Gabriella hung up.

* * *

Troy realized he needed to calm down. After all, it was not a date. It was dinner with a friend. In the back of his mind he was thinking, this was not just any friend, it was Gabriella Montez. She was back and they were going out to dinner. They were going out to dinner as, single, friends. It was definitely _not_ a date.

Okay, so maybe it was a date. He felt like after fifteen years alone, this might be the start of something new. But then, what did he know about Gabriella? All he really knew about her was that she had two daughters and she did not wear a wedding band. He had no information of anything that had happened in her life between two months into college and now.

He had to stop overanalyzing this so he moved on to grading some essays for his ninth grade class. Sighing, he realized he did not know if he would be able to wait to see her until Friday.

* * *

Gabriella had picked up her daughters from school on time. Emma had gotten into the car and wasn't in tears. Gabriella took that as a good sign.

"So, the day wasn't too bad, was it?" The thing Gabriella worried about the most when they had moved to Albuquerque was her daughters' transitions in the new area. Everything was foreign to them.

"It was fine actually. The student leader that brought me around the school was really nice and she introduced to me a couple of her friends and we sat together at lunch." Emma smiled at her.

"That's really good Em. How are your classes and your teachers?" Gabriella knew it would be hard work wise because Emma would probably be ahead in some classes and behind in others.

"They were good. The only class I think that I'm behind in is U.S. history." Emma's classes had been fairly easy that day and she didn't have much homework.

"Well, at least you aren't behind in math or science. That would be really hard to catch up on." Gabriella was really happy her daughter had had a fairly good day.

* * *

Troy Bolton sat in his classroom correcting papers at four o'clock. Basketball tryouts were in two weeks so the team captains were running some preseason practices. He planned on staying until practice finished so that he could lock up the gym. Alex was also going to stay for the practice since he would be trying out for the team. He was a freshman and Troy knew he wasn't as serious about basketball as he was about soccer. Troy had Alex play basketball when he was younger but soccer always stood out to him more. Alex played basketball mostly so that he could stay in shape. He wasn't great but he also wasn't bad. Troy would probably place him on the junior varsity team during tryouts.

Hearing the squeaking of shoes on the linoleum floor in the hallway, Troy assumed that practice had finished. Standing up, he grabbed his unfinished papers to bring home along with his keys and other stuff. He locked the door of his classroom as he went toward the gym so that he could lock the basketballs in the storage room.

Troy began to think about going home. As much as he loved his son and spending time with home with him, going home was one of the hardest parts of the day. There was no one that would give him a kiss as he walked in the door. There was no one to make dinner plans with. There was no one to cuddle on the couch with to watch his favorite television show. There was no one to fall asleep or wake up next to. He desperately wanted someone to do all those things with. He wanted somebody that he would want to surprise with flowers every so often and somebody that would make him smile. All he wanted was somebody to love.

* * *

It turned out that Mia had a wonderful day at school also. She had made a couple new friends and everyone was amused that she had previously lived in a state that had snow on the ground for a good part of the year. Many students in her class had only ever seen snow while they were on vacation and some hadn't seen snow at all. Gabriella had been one of those students that had only seen snow when she visited her aunt in the third grade over winter break in Montana.

Mia had gone to bed, and Gabriella and Emma were sitting on the couch watching a reality television show. They were only partially watching the show though because they were busy talking. Gabriella decided that now would be a good time to tell Emma her own good news.

"Guess who called me today?' Gabriella asked as she worked on French braiding her daughter's hair.

"Was it that guy we saw at my school?" Emma asked.

"Yes, and guess what?" Gabriella knew she had to share her excitement with someone. When she was younger, Gabriella would have told her mother these kinds of things, but now she felt that she had tell Emma because she was old enough now.

"What?" Emma knew he probably asked her out.

"He asked me out to dinner on Friday." Gabriella was almost beaming with excitement at this point.

"Don't you think it's kind of soon though mom? You and Dad just broke up a few weeks ago." Emma was shocked her mother was willing to move on so quickly after divorcing her father.

"It is soon, but I feel like I need to get out for a little while. Even if it doesn't turn into anything." Gabriella had reservations herself about dating so quickly.

"How can you feel like you can trust somebody already though Mom?" Emma herself was trouble trusting anyone, much less men at this point in her life. What her father had done to her mother, her sister, and herself was unforgivable.

"I don't know Emma. I don't know what it is about Troy but I get a little tingle in my stomach when I talk to him. I don't know if it is exciting because he reminds me of when I was younger and how much fun I had or if it is exciting because I really like him after all these years Emma. Trust me, I'm confused too." Gabriella was confused about how she was so willing to go on a date so soon. She was still heartbroken.

"I know Mom. I just thought you would still be really upset about the divorce. I still am." Emma was confused that she was feeling so much hurt because of her father, yet her mother was moving on so quickly.

"Emma, I will never forgive you father for what he did. I feel so much pain too. Your father and I were together for sixteen years Emma. That is an incredibly long time and I loved him. Sometimes I feel the need for someone though Em. I don't want someone to be your father, because that's impossible and I don't want you to feel like whoever I date plays a fatherly role in your life, but I want someone that you girls can at least look up to for advice that only a man can give. I want someone to come home to at night and fall asleep with Emma. I don't know how to say it, but I just feel the need for someone right now."

"But don't you think you should be single for a while?" Emma felt protectiveness over her mother. This dating thing was new and she didn't want her to get hurt again.

"Sometimes the best way to get over a relationship is to start a new one." Gabriella new her daughter would have a tough time excepting her dating new men. "And who even knows if anything will amount from this. It's just one date."

"I guess so Mom." With that, they began to focus more attention on the elimination of the reality show they were watching.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: A few important things:**

**A) The date will be uploaded in 2-3 chapters instead of being one super huge chapter which is why a little tiny bit of it was included in this chapter**

**B) If you are reading AOBYM you know that I am the queen of flashbacks. If not, I am going to warn you that I insert them randomly when I feel like the story needs a little romance.**

**C) This will most likely be my last update for three weeks. I may get one or two in at the most, but I am going to be in Australia for three weeks to meet my host family and get registered at the school I will be attending this summer because I am going to be a foreign exchange student for a few months. I am truly sorry in advance for the lack of updates and I will try my hardest to update at least once.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

The week had gone by quickly and the thought of the weekend nearing brought excitement to Gabriella. The girls had been busy with homework and Gabriella had been attempting to get her daughters signed up for their usual sports activities, which brought along physicals at the doctor's office and dropping the girls off at practices. With everything going on, she barely had any time to think about anything, especially the divorce or her upcoming date. Which happened to be tonight.

As the day kept going, she found herself more and more nervous. It seemed as though she had been checking the time on her computer every five minutes. She was anxious to go home and pick out her outfit for tonight. She had realized that she had not been on an actual date with someone in over fifteen years. After thinking for a while, she forgot how much preparation she had put into dates. Certainly, dating would be different now than it was in college and high school.

That was one thing she would be looking forward to. There would be no petty drama to deal with and maybe Troy and her would be able to simply get to know each other without outside pressures. Hopefully looking good would be an added bonus, not a deal breaker this time around.

A while ago she had gotten a text from Troy. In their short phone conversation, he hadn't remembered to get her address so he could pick her up. She was just relieved he that he had not forgotten they were going to dinner.

She was getting that feeling in her stomach, that one that makes you want to puke, that she had not felt for years. It was a combination of nerves, anxiety, and a hint of excitement.

Gabriella decided that she should leave so that she could pick up Mia from school and drop her off at her mother's house for the evening. Emma was going to a team bonding sleepover after gymnastics practice. She had made the team on Wednesday after tryouts. Luckily, they had arrived in Albuquerque on time for tryouts so that Emma could establish a routine similar to the one she had had in Connecticut.

She sighed, things were getting back to the way they had been before the divorce. She never believed that she would be able to go about her normal life without her husband. Gabriella sighed again, she would have to stop calling him her husband. It was strange though, associating the word 'ex-husband' and 'Tom' in the same sentence. They had been married for almost fifteen years, which was an incredibly long time.

She had come to wonder what he was doing. He was probably going home to _their _house, which they had bought together, to his college-aged girlfriend. They had absolutely no communication after the separation. It had been about two and a half months since he informed her he was leaving and a month since they had finalized the divorce. Things had moved so quickly. She was still getting used to people calling her Gabriella Montez again. She should probably change her name legally again because every time she looked at her driver's license she felt a pang in her heart at the name Gabriella Schwartz.

Letting her head drop onto the steering wheel while at a red light, she wondered what she was doing. She was going on a date _two months _after separating with her husband of _fifteen years. _She was stupid. She should be ashamed of herself. The worst part was, she was looking forward to the date. It just seemed so bad. She was completely leaving her husband, the father of her children, behind. Well, he left her first, but it seemed just as bad. It was almost like she felt relieved to be divorced now that she was in Troy's life again.

Gabriella could not deny that her relationship with Troy had been amazing. He had really pushed her to her limit to try new things. She had gotten her head out of her textbooks and lived life. She felt that flip in her stomach that she had read about in numerous young adult romance novels. She had gotten her naval pierced and snuck out of the house after her mother had gone to bed to see him. Most importantly, she had fallen in love. They had dated for a year and two months before they mutually decided to break up in college due to the distance between their colleges, Dartmouth College located in New Hampshire and the University of Southern California. She had known Troy most of her life, they had been good friends in elementary school but drifted apart in middle school. The summer before their senior year, they let the hot sun get to their heads and they had 'hooked up' quickly after a few parties he had brought her to after they had started working at the same community center for the summer.

_Troy Bolton was waiting for Gabriella Montez to open the front door of her house. He had semi-awkwardly asked her to go with him to his teammate's party at a lake house a few weeks ago. She seemed to be letting herself get a little looser. This was the third party they had gone to together. It was strange for him, bringing a girl to a party. He had always flown solo to parties but after spending their breaks together at work, Troy had wanted to spend more time with her thus asking her to a party. Things had gone well, which left them at today._

_Gabriella opened the door and reached up to hug him. He wrapped his arm around her lower back in response. She closed the door, her mother wasn't home like usual. She followed him to his truck, where he opened the door for her to get in. Sliding in, she could distinctly smell his cologne mixed with the dirty air of his truck. It was summer in New Mexico and was unbearably hot. To the first party she didn't know what to wear and had settled with a short black dress. She gave up with wearing dresses to the second party due to various classmates trying to slide their hands up her dress for easy access. Now she was wearing short cutoff jean shorts and a simple low cut black tank top that had bronze square sequins lined around the neckline paired with bronze gladiator flats._

_They had arrived at the street of the party and parked Troy's truck a long ways away from the party. Not only would his license plate not get recorded if the police decided to make an appearance but he would also get to talk with Gabriella as they walked down the block._

"_So, you working tomorrow?" This was how their conversations always seemed to begin. Work was a safe subject to begin with. The two didn't have much in common and had friends in different social circles. All topics related to that had been abandoned before the conversation even started._

"_Nope. I've got the day off." Her sweet voice replied. Troy couldn't believe he was going to parties with her. She was such a sweet and seemingly innocent girl._

"_Me too. You should come over to my house tomorrow, Mom and Dad are in Phoenix for the weekend." Troy's parents left often for Phoenix. His mother had siblings there and this weekend was one of his cousin's birthdays. Troy had opted out of the trip as he often had. He felt Gabriella's hand brush up against his as they neared the house that the party was at. Instead of grabbing her hand, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder with protectiveness. He had seen the way she moved on the dance floor at the first party and was quickly attached at her hip. Almost literally. He was the only one she danced with at the second party._

_Making their way into the house, they allowed their ears to adjust to the loud music and their noses to the smell of alcohol mixed with smoke from various different substances. "I'm going to grab something to drink, you want anything?" Troy had asked her. He allowed himself one drink of whatever substance was located in the punch bowl. Generally, he stopped after one sip because the mix of alcoholic beverages didn't appeal to his taste buds too well. He simply held onto the cup for the rest of the night._

"_No thanks but I'll come with." Not that she had much of a choice with his muscular arm wrapped around her. Even if she did have a choice, it was likely she would have stayed by his side to keep close to him._

_Not many words were spoken after that. After Troy got his drink, they walked around. Troy's hand had migrated low on Gabriella's waist. It wasn't long until they joined the mass of teenagers grinding in the middle of whatever room they were in. As usual Gabriella pressed her backside to Troy's front and he would place his hands on her hips. Soon, Troy hadn't been able to resist her anymore. He dropped his head down to her neck where he began to place light kisses. Gabriella had turned her neck around in surprise. He hadn't done that before. Then, he leaned down to kiss her. The angle was slightly awkward to her so she turned around so they were chest to chest. As they separated, Troy wrapped his arms around her and leaned down again. Her lips were soft and tasted like strawberry. This time she responded and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. The kiss had quickly turned into a make out session, not at all dissimilar to the ones going on around them._

_He really didn't know how long they had been making out in the middle of a group of teenagers, but he leaned down to grab her hand and led her out of the house. They held hands on the way to his truck. When they arrived at her house, she had opened the door while Troy held his hands on her waist. They walked in and Troy quickly lent down to kiss her again. She didn't allow it to escalate to much. He left after about five minutes. It was funny; they hadn't said anything to each other since he asked her if she wanted a drink._

_Both spent the night analyzing what happened. Neither got much sleep either. Gabriella decided on going to Troy's around eleven. Hopefully he would be awake. She waited after she rung the doorbell and hoped she wasn't waking him up. She felt her heart drop when he finally opened the door, wearing a pair of red basketball shorts with a pair of black boxers peaking out the top. He was shirtless and she assumed she had woken him up._

"_Did I wake you up?" She asked quietly. She felt terrible for waking him up. Maybe after what happened last night he hadn't expected her to come today._

_Troy chuckled deeply. "No, it is just really hot. Come in." This was the first time they had hung out that wasn't at a party. He didn't know if it was appropriate to kiss her, but leaned down anyway because she looked so cute in her shorts and tank top. "You look good."_

"_Thanks." She walked in and looked around. His house had changed since the last time she had been there. Some of the walls were different colors and there was some new furniture. Gabriella followed him into the living room and sat down on the same couch as him. He brought his feet up onto the couch and leant his, still shirtless, back onto the arm of the couch so that he was facing her._

"_So, do you want to watch a movie? I'm sure we can find something on TV." Troy spoke to her. He hadn't had a girl over alone. Sure, he had had friends over with girls but that was easier with a lot of people around._

"_Sure." Gabriella responded. It was a little awkward between them. As Troy grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, Gabriella scrunched her nose at some of the options. They finally decided on _Salt _with Angelina Jolie. _

_Throughout the movie, Troy had lowered his bent legs to allow his toes to brush Gabriella's leg. Slowly, the two shifted closer together. First, Troy's feet were in her lap, then she sat behind Troy's knees allowing her own legs to rest over his in a 't' shape, and finally she ended up on Troy's lap with his arms wrapped around her. They had simply sat there for the end of the movie. Neither wanted to start anything at that moment. When the movie was over Troy asked, "Do you want to eat lunch?"_

"_Umm… sure." She replied, it was still kind of awkward. She did not want to move from her spot in Troy's lap. She was perfectly comfortable there._

"_Do you want some grilled cheese? That's about the only thing I can make that's not cereal." Troy grinned at her. He was a typical teenage boy that did not know much about cooking anything that required more than a toaster._

"_Grilled cheese sounds great." She stood up off his lap and watched as his muscles flexed as he pushed himself up from the couch._

_Gabriella watched from where she was sitting on top of the island as Troy moved around the kitchen turning on the stove and collecting the items needed for making their sandwiches._

"_So…" Troy said trying to break the silence. Maybe they should just get the conversation about where they stood over with._

"_So…" Gabriella responded. This would be the awkward part. The part where they didn't know how the other felt or what they wanted._

"_So, do you maybe want to go out sometime this week? I mean, not a party this time, something quieter like dinner or something." Troy was trying to ask her out but did not want Gabriella to think he just wanted to party with her. He was not actually a big partier. In the summer he went to them, but during the school year it was rare he hit up a big party. It was too risky to get caught and have to be kicked off the basketball team._

"_Like a date?" Gabriella was kind of surprised he was asking her out to dinner. He was infamous for being a so-called womanizer. He apparently hooked up with girls a lot yet here he was, making her a grilled cheese and asking her out._

"_Yeah, a date." He placed two buttered slices of bred on the hot pan that was sitting on the stove and smiled to himself. Maybe it was time for something different. Maybe he was ready to start a relationship._

"_So, you and me are going to go on a legitimate date this week? For sure?" Gabriella hoped he that he was not joking around with her. She would not find it funny._

_When he knew that he would not need to keep such a close eye on the grilled cheese, he moved away from the stove and walked to where Gabriella was seated on top of the granite island in the middle of his kitchen. He placed his hands on her knees and began to draw circles and looked in her eyes. "You and I are going to go out to dinner, on a legitimate date this week. Unless this week doesn't work, but we can go next week if we can't figure it out, okay?"_

_He kept his look in her eyes, she slowly nodded. He smiled up at her and pressed a soft kiss to her lips to 'seal the deal.'_

The funny thing was, that while Troy changed Gabriella, Gabriella tamed Troy. She had helped him raise his grade point average so that he could qualify for his desired scholarship. She got him to commit to her, which was huge in itself. She made it clear from the beginning that she would not be someone that he could toy around with.

As she moved on with her night, to get ready for her date, she decided that she would not think. She would not think about Tom Schwartz, their past relationship, or what other people would think when they found out she was going on a date after separating with her husband. She was going to focus on Troy and how she felt about him. If things went well, then great, if they went bad, then she would move on. She was going to let her heart do the thinking tonight and that was it.

* * *

Troy arrived at Gabriella's house at five minutes early. He sat in his car for three minutes, debating whether or not he would seem overly excited for their date. Deciding he would rather be early than late, he got out of his car and walked toward the front door. He could see lights on inside the house. He rang the doorbell and got a slight case of déjà vu. He had done this many times before, not only with Gabriella but many other women.

When she opened the door, Troy looked her over once. She was wearing a fairly simple black dress with a few long necklaces. Those long necklaces had been her signature in high school. "You look amazing Gabriella."

"Thanks." She said back to him and motioned for him to come in the house. As he stepped up into the house, he looked around.

"This is your new place?" Obviously it was her new house, but he was hoping it would start a conversation.

"Yeah, you like it?" Gabriella knew it was nothing special, but it was what suited her and her two daughters now that she had to support the three of them alone. It was a two level stucco house with a basement like many of the houses in the area. To the left of the entrance was the staircase leading to the basement and upstairs to the right was the rest of the house.

"Yeah, it's nice. Very Albuquerque." Many of the houses had similar styles in Albuquerque. The stucco style with tiled floors helped to ensure a cooler atmosphere inside during the long, hot summers.

"I know. You ready to go?" Gabriella had slid on her shoes and grabbed her jacket. She knew she probably wouldn't need it because the weather here felt like summer compared to Connecticut winters.

"I'm ready to go." Troy smiled at her. If she was half as excited to go out as he was, he would be satisfied. As they walked toward the car, Troy commented, "This is kind of strange, huh? Doing this like we used to after so many years."

"It is. It has been a really long time." Gabriella smiled, being around him assured her that maybe this could turn into something more than just dinner.

"It's been way too long." With that, they both knew how the other felt. They both missed each other, but neither realized how much until they were in the other's presence.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: SURPRISE! Had time to write on the 14+ hour plane ride to Australia! You guys know I couldn't stay away for too long!**

**Note about AOBYM/New story at the bottom, please check it out if you read that story.**

**I love my reviewers SO SO MUCH. Thank you to everyone!**

**Yes, this is moving kind of quickly but I want to get their relationship started so we can get on with the story, okay?**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

The door opened and illuminated the inside of the mid sized crossover. Gabriella slid in and felt the heated leather against her bottom. It was a good, kid friendly, car for Troy to drive. Gabriella knew Troy had hated small cars when he was in high school and had he driven a run down pick up truck. She guessed the car was about three years old now. As Troy slid in, she attempted to start a conversation that would not be awkward. "Well this is a nice upgrade."

Troy smiled as he turned his head around while he backed out of the driveway. "I know, right? It has working radio, air conditioning, and I don't have to sit underneath the hood to fix it every night."

"Don't forget the heated seats." Gabriella smiled remembering the good times they had in Troy's truck.

"Oh, of course. The best feature of the entire car." Troy laughed, he didn't use the heated seats all that often. After all it was Albuquerque and winters were definitely not harsh.

"Do you know how much shit you'd get for using heated seating when it's fifty eight degrees outside if you were in Connecticut? People would laugh in your face." She giggled but it did seem kind of ridiculous to her. It was not even cold.

"Is that were you're from? I mean where you lived before you moved back down here?" Troy hadn't had a clue where she had been living previously, he had assumed she had permanently settled down in New Hampshire because that is where she went to college.

"Yeah," She said semi-awkwardly, she forgot he hadn't known that, "I moved there after I graduated. My husband had acquired a job there and we ended up staying."

"Oh, so did you like it up there?" When Troy heard the word husband he felt an awkwardness in the car but he decided to stick with the conversation anyway.

"I guess. New England is gorgeous but… I don't know, I was fine while I was there but I don't miss it really." She wasn't sure how to describe her old town, "I guess Albuquerque just feels more like home than Connecticut ever did."

Troy knew exactly how she felt, "I know. Well, not exactly, but I just never grew as attached to L.A. as I was to Albuquerque."

"How was it? USC and everything?" She hadn't known much about anything after his second month of college, the last time they had talked, other than that he was a teacher now. "How did you decide to become a teacher?"

"It was fine. Stereotypical college life, you know partying, drinking, and all-nighters. It was good while it lasted." That was all Troy had to add about L.A., "I just fell out of love with basketball I think. The pressure was enough in high school but in college it was way worse. I just didn't have the passion to pursue it as a career but I wasn't ready to give it up. I'm not sure how I decided on teaching high school English but I love it now."

"That's good though, you found something you love and you stuck with it." Gabriella was happy he was content with his life and didn't have regrets.

"How about you? What was Dartmouth like?" Troy was interested on how Gabriella ended up in Bio-chemistry instead of law.

"It was good, but difficult. It is kind of hard to accept that you aren't the best in class anymore. I went into pre-law but I just didn't love it, I would've rather been in a lab than a courtroom." Gabriella didn't really want to talk about lawyers at the moment. She had meet her ex-husband in law school and didn't want to talk about him now.

Silence fell in the car as they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant they were going to eat dinner at. "Oh my gosh, this place is still in business?" Gabriella gasped out as they pulled into the parking lot of a very familiar Italian restaurant.

Troy chuckled, "Yep, somehow this place has survived." This was the place they had their first date at. It was quiet and generally empty. They had liked it as teenagers because they had inexpensive good food. It was never busy and had very few costumers due to its partially hidden location but somehow it had managed to stay in business. Troy thought it would be sentimental to bring her back.

"I've missed this place," Gabriella said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and Troy opened his door. He jogged around the car to open her door, "Thanks."

"No problem," Troy responded as she slid out of the car. He couldn't help but notice how good her body looked in the dress. She still had her figure after almost twenty years.

They walked in and were seated at a small table with a white tablecloth. They were handed their menus and told their waiter would be there soon to get their drink orders.

"Do you know what you are going to get?" Troy asked but he knew what her answer would most likely be.

"Fettuccini Alfredo of course. I couldn't possibly get anything else after all these years. What about you?" Gabriella didn't know how many times she had ordered the restaurant's fettuccini but that was her favorite.

"Spaghetti with Italian sausage." Troy smiled at her from across the table. He wasn't sure how many times they had ate at the restaurant but every single time the two had ordered the same food.

"Do you remember the last time we were here? It was the last night before we left," Gabriella spoke with slight sadness in her voice. The day after had been the last time they had seen each other in person. There was no way they would have broken up had the seen the other.

"It was kind of bitter sweet, don't you think?" Troy obviously remembered that day. It was the last night they'd spent together.

"It was," Gabriella wondered what would have happened if they hadn't broken up. She didn't have any regrets, soon after she had meet Tom and had her two wonderful children but she had always wondered what life would have been like had she chosen to spend it with Troy.

Neither really wanted to talk about the past at that moment so Gabriella switched the conversation quickly. "Tell me what you have been up to the past twenty years, I have missed out on a lot."

"You know what? My life hasn't been all that exciting. After Alex was born my life just turned into work and being a dad." There wasn't much more to his life than that.

"I know. There isn't much time for anything after you've had kids." Gabriella smiled at him, she could tell there was more to the story than that. Obviously he was single and probably had been for a while.

"Things are slowing down now that Alex is in high school though. He doesn't need to be chased after everywhere anymore." Troy spoke in somewhat of a sad tone. He was upset his son was getting older because he would be going to college soon and leaving him behind. "He is my life, you know? It kind of freaks me out that he doesn't need me as much anymore."

In that moment Gabriella could tell that Troy wasn't completely content with his life. He was thankful for his son but seemed kind of lonely. "Did he recently turn fifteen? Emma said he is in one of her classes."

"In October, he was born a couple months after I graduated." Everyone he met asked him about that, Alex had been born quickly after he had graduated.

"Is that when you moved back to Albuquerque?" Gabriella wasn't sure where this conversation would lead too.

"Um, not exactly, I moved a few months after he was born. I had a job as a teacher and I wanted to finish the school year before I moved. It was a rough couple of months though, raising Alex alone." Troy began to play with the straw in his drink, he couldn't believe how sensitive he was about the subject still.

"I can imagine. You've been a single parent ever since he was born then?" Gabriella could tell he was sensitive to the subject but she was happy that she had a single parent she could talk to now.

"Pretty much. Krista, my fia-" Troy began but got interrupted by their waiter.

"Do you know what you want to order? Or do you need a few more minutes?" The tall blonde college aged waiter asked.

"I think we're ready." Troy said and indicated that Gabriella could order first.

"I'll have the fettuccini alfredo." She said as she handed the menu over to the waiter.

"And I'll have the spaghetti with Italian sausage." Troy too handed over his menu to the waiter.

"Alright, I will have your food out soon." The waiter said as he left them in silence once again. Gabriella noticed they were currently the only couple in the restaurant. Things seemed like they never changed.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Gabriella looked into his eyes once again. She could read him like an open book. He was reserved about speaking about this subject but still wanted to tell her.

"Oh, I was saying Krista, Alex's mother, left a couple days after he was born. She, uh, she wasn't ready to give up the partying life and she just left one day." He wasn't looking her in the eyes anymore. He took a long sip of his soda.

"I'm sorry Troy. You really didn't have to tell me." Gabriella felt bad that he had been left, similar to her. She couldn't imagine raising a child by herself almost from day one.

"It's okay. It's in the past now. It was hard explaining everything to Alex as he grew up. I mean, how do you tell a kid that their mom left because she wanted to party?" It wasn't that Troy wasn't over Krista, it was that he was still alone and hadn't gotten married yet.

"It's hard." That was all Gabriella had to say. Sympathetically, she reached out her hand and placed it on top of his.

"Enough about me, how about you? How has life treated you?" He didn't have any more interest in talking about his life at the moment.

"I have been better. I recently got divorced which is why I moved back out here to Albuquerque." She felt obligated to tell him she was divorced after he told her about what happened in his life.

"I'm sorry." He repeated. He couldn't deny that ever since Gabriella had placed her hand on his, he had felt something different. There was something about the way she cared about him that gave him butterflies in his stomach. Just a simple touch of her hands made him feel better. Now it was his turn to squeeze her hand in sympathy.

"How about you tell me about Chad and Taylor? Enough with the depressing stories." She said with a smile on her face.

"They are great. I told you they have four kids, right?" Troy saw her nod and decided to continue, "Tay just had the fourth a few months ago so they are still adjusting to the new addition. They got married, here, twelve years ago, I think. And most importantly, Chad shaved his hair."

Gabriella's mouth dropped, "You're kidding!" She began to giggle. She couldn't imagine what Chad looked like without his big poofy hair.

"After Ben, their oldest, was born Chad couldn't take the hair pulling and decided to just chop it all off," Troy laughed with her, "It doesn't look all that bad though."

"I don't know if I'll be able to recognize him." Gabriella said as their fingers began to interlace. She looked into Troy's eyes, they were the same color blue as they had been in high school.

"You know what we should do? We should all get together sometime, with or without the kids." Troy spoke, he knew Taylor and Chad would love to see Gabriella again.

Gabriella hadn't had many true friends in high school. Before she began dating Troy she had a few friends that she sat with a lunch and talked to in class. They hadn't done much outside of school together but at the time Gabriella didn't care much. She simply wasn't interested in much of what they had done outside of school. Troy was what she had been waiting for. She'd been very reserved but Troy had been funny and wild, and she had the time of her life with him. After school started and they had officially become a couple Gabriella had begun to hang out with Troy's friends more, beginning her friendship with Taylor and Chad. Taylor was a headstrong intelligent women and Chad was a big haired jock. Somehow they had become good friends.

"That would be so much fun to see them again. It would be like a high school reunion." It wasn't until now that Gabriella realized how much she missed Albuquerque and her high school friends.

"I'll call them later and see if they would be up to it." Troy said and a slight silence fell between the two.

"I've missed this. You and me. It's been too long Troy," she said changing the mood of the conversation. It almost felt like they had never left high school, especially with them sitting there holding hands across the table.

"I do too. It's been way too long Gabriella." He reached up and brushed a curl behind her ear. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight? You get more and more beautiful every time I see you."

All the while they hadn't let go of each other's hands. "It's been a while since somebody told me that. Ever since the divorce, I've put myself on the back burn and put all my focus on the girls."

"Well you are Gabriella, you're very beautiful." Troy said and swallowed deeply. But before he had the chance to speak again, Gabriella spoke up.

"I still have your ring." It was true, she had kept the class ring Troy had given her their senior year in high school. At the end of their relationship she had decided to keep it instead of getting rid of it. She wanted to keep something as a reminder of their relationship.

"You kept it after all this time?" Troy was stunned. He had given it to her like all the boys at East had. She had worn it on a long chain around her neck.

She simply nodded her head as she saw the waiter exit the kitchen doors. She knew he was bringing their food out because they were the only ones in the restaurant. He set the plates down and they said simple "thank yous." Neither wanted to break their hand embrace to eat their food however.

"Should we make a toast?" Troy asked as he ever so slowly slipped his hand out of hers.

"Why not?" She replied and smiled at him.

"To you and me spending more time together and a better year for both of us." They clinked their glasses together and took a sip.

"To us," Gabriella repeated as she set her glass down, "This looks really good."

"It does," Troy looked at the white noodles Gabriella had in front of her.

"You can have some if you want," She offered. They had always shared food when they ate there.

"Thanks, you can try some of mine if you want." And with that they reached over each other's plates and spun their forks in the pasta.

Gabriella let out a moan at the taste of the food, "This is really good."

"I know, it hasn't changed one bit." Troy spoke again.

"Thank you for bringing me here Troy, I appreciate it," and she did appreciate it. She didn't even know if he would remember bringing her here after so many years. This place had been one of the places they had gone to the summer they got together for private dinners. They had once been worried about what people would think of their relationship.

"This isn't the only place we are going, I would hope you know that," he hoped she would know where they were going next.

Gabriella's eyes widened, "Are we going to Salvadore's?"

"We can't not go to Salvadore's after eating Gabriella," Troy smiled at how cute she looked.

"We have to split a brownie sundae Troy!" She said with excitement while giggling. Salvadore's was a local ice cream shop that they had always walked to after eating at the Italian restaurant they were at now. The shop was about a block away but allowed them some quiet time to walk together and simply hold hands. It was the simplicity in their relationship.

Of course they both enjoyed the brownie sundaes.

As they finished up their food light conversation continued. They had discussed their jobs, children, and the upcoming basketball season. Gabriella agreed to attend a game and Troy had paid for their meal.

They were laughing as they exited the building. "Thank you for dinner Troy."

"It's no problem Gabriella. Besides, that was just the beginning, it's time for Salvadore's now." The couple had never finished a whole brownie sundae from Salvadore's, it was just that large.

After they had began walking, the conversation changed yet again. "Are you happy you moved back to Albuquerque Gabriella?"

She took a moment to think, "I am. I think I'm a lot happier here than I was in Connecticut, even if it has only been two weeks. Especially since I am able to see you again." She replied cheekily and nudged him.

"I'm happy you are here too," and as he dropped his hand he felt Gabriella's brush up against his. Without thinking about it, he interlaced his fingers with hers.

Gabriella decided to boldly speak up, "Do you think that we stand a chance Troy?"

Troy was positive he knew what she was talking about but just in case he was wrong he questioned, "Stand a chance at what Gabriella?"

"Well, tonight. Was it a date or did you just want to go to dinner as friends?" She had been positive he asked her out on a date.

"I kept telling myself it was just going to be dinner with a friend but I don't think it's possible that we could go out to dinner and just be friends." He saw Gabriella nod her head in agreement, "I don't know all that much about you Gabriella but I feel like we could stand a chance when we are ready. I don't know much about your past relationship and I'm willing to just be friends for now if you aren't comfortable starting a new relationship yet. I know how it is, it's really hard to trust someone after getting your heart broken."

"Troy, you've changed. You have matured so much in such a good way, I want you to know that," she continued, "but I'm just not ready to tell you about him yet Troy."

"That's fine Gabriella, really. I get that you aren't ready yet and you don't have to be. I just want you to know that I'm here for you, okay? I get that it's probably a tough time in your life right now and I want to be there for you. If you need anything, I'm here for you." Troy expressed to her.

"Can we do this again? Go out on a second date? I really am interested in starting a relationship Troy." She felt him slip his arm around her lower back in comfort and understanding.

"Of course I would like another chance to go out with you Gabriella." She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I feel kind of guilty doing this Troy. My husband and I just broke a couple of months ago and I feel bad _wanting _to do this so soon. I don't know what it is that keeps me attracted to you Troy." She said with a few tears in her eyes. "I have a broken heart but I still want to start a relationship with you Troy."

"How about we just take this slow Gabriella? If you want to have a relationship, then great. The thing is that we don't know each other at all. This past hour we've had together has been great but that's all it's been, an hour. Before we dive head first, we should just get to know each other." They continued walking even though they had passed Salvadore's, they could always turn around but they couldn't rewind this conversation.

"That's all I could ask for Troy."

"Then next weekend, we'll do this again. Another date, just you and me." They had turned this into a positive conversation and both had spoken what they wanted. "Should we turn around and go into Salvadore's?"

"Yes please, I could really go for some good ice cream right now." Of course she was, Troy thought. She'd always been a sucker for some good ice cream.

They walked in the door of Salvadore's with Troy's arm still wrapped around her waist. The bell attached to the door clung much as the same way it had when they were teenagers. The familiar face of Salvadore himself popped out of the back room.

"My goodness, am I seeing this with my own two eyes? Or am I dreaming?" Salvadore boomed in his thick Italian accent.

Turns out, he had remembered the couple from the past. They had gotten ice cream there almost once a week their senior year.

"Long time, no ice cream, eh?" He continued.

"I know, it's been awhile." Troy spoke as he looked down at Gabriella and winked. Salvadore had always embarrassed them as they walked in the door.

"A while son? Almost twenty years! I don't know about you crazy Americans but in Italy that's a long time." Salvadore continued, "So what are you kids doing here? Visiting the parents? Where do you two live now?"

Troy coughed, he didn't think the slightly old man had noticed that they weren't married. "Actually, I moved back quite a few years ago but Gabriella just moved here a few weeks ago."

Salvadore's face reddened slightly but he quickly covered himself, "Oh! I expect to be seeing more of you two then." There was a slight silence, "Well, what am I doing? This is an ice cream shop! You need to order your ice cream. What'll it be? Brownie sundae with two spoons?"

"Yes please," Gabriella replied.

"Coming right up!" The eccentric man spoke. The couple watched as the man scooped out a bit of chocolate fudge ice cream and moved down the counter to coat it in chocolate syrup and threw in some extra brownie pieces. "Here you go, kids. It's on the house."

"You don't have to do that. Really, I can pay for it." Troy argued with the older man's offer.

"Nonsense! My favorite customers are back! It's a special occasion!" Salvadore's thick loud Italian voice was getting louder and other customers were beginning to stare at them.

"Thank you then. I promise we'll be back before twenty years again." Troy said as he grasped the large bowl in his hands.

"Thank you Salvadore." Gabriella also mentioned before they walked to their table.

Troy pulled out the chair for her as she sat down. She smiled at him with silent thanks.

"This looks delicious. Don't you think?" Troy struck up conversation.

"Of course, it looks amazing. As if Salvadore would produce anything less than perfect." She picked up the spoon and stuck it into the ice cream, scooping out as much as she could.

"Do you remember the first time we came here? Salvadore was picking on us for being handsy little teenagers." Troy laughed at the memory.

"That was so embarrassing! It was your fault too Troy!" She exclaimed.

"I admit, it was my fault. Your legs were just so gorgeous that I couldn't resist touching them." Troy spoke of one of their first dates.

Gabriella blushed at his words. Sometimes things slipped out like they just had. That night, Troy had rested his hand on her knee and it had begun to travel up her thigh as they ate their ice cream. His pinkie had crossed underneath her dress while Salvatore was washing one of the near by tables. He had said, "Ay! You handsy American teenagers! I will have no hanky panky in my place of business!" in his loud, startling Italian accent.

At that Troy had quickly removed his hand from Gabriella's leg. "It's kind of funny, looking back at the things we worried about. Getting caught making out, sneaking out of the house, and getting in trouble with our parents. Now it seems so childish."

"I know. Sometimes I wish I could go back when I didn't have to worry about anything except winning a ball game. Now it's taxes and my own son I have to worry about." Troy agreed.

"I feel younger being with you though. I don't know if it is just because of all the memories that we have together are being brought up in my mind or if you just make me feel young again," Gabriella contemplated.

"Does that freak you out too? Do you wonder if our chemistry is just because we bring out the child in each other?" One thing Troy had worried about was them becoming close simply because it made them feel young again.

"Yes, but I don't know Troy. Maybe there is something behind everything that's happening right now. Do you think we were destined to get another chance?" The thought had startled Gabriella. She had never believed in destiny, fate, karma, or anything of the sort. Her disbelief continued even more so when her husband cheated and divorced her. Gabriella's thoughts that two people could remain together forever had dissipated. To make matters worse, Tom had taken everything they had, had a young hot college-aged girlfriend, and was living without a care in the world. Many people told her 'karma's a bitch' but nothing bad had happened to Tom since their divorce and she didn't believe anything seriously bad would happen.

"I think I do Gabriella. Even if we aren't meant for each other, I believe we are meant to be at least friends." Troy had thought about it, he didn't believe it was a simple coincidence that he had run into Gabriella so quickly after she had moved to Albuquerque.

"What are we going to do next week? It's going to be pretty difficult to top this." Gabriella could begin to feel herself getting full from the ice cream.

"You are just going to have to wait and see. You know how much I love surprises." It was rare Troy had ever revealed what they were going to do on their date in full detail.

"I don't know about you, but I am full." Gabriella stated as she sat her spoon in the bowl.

"Me too. If I don't stop now, I'm going to have a beer belly by the time I turn forty." Troy said as he rubbed his stomach slightly.

"The bottomless pit worries about his figure now? Who would've thought?" Gabriella teased.

"I hate to break the news, but I no longer have the metabolism of an eighteen year old."

"I never would have guessed. I bet you still work out all the time. Now you are playing the role of your father though, showing off how much weight you can life." Troy had once complained about his father being able to life more weight than he could.

"How'd you guess? If I didn't know any better you can read minds?" Neither wanted to leave so they continued with the playful conversation.

"How do you know better?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I just do Gabriella. I think we both know a lot more about each other than we realize." Troy smirked flirtatiously.

"Well, I guess we'll have to spend some more time together to see if our assumptions are true."

"I guess we will." Both were aware this was their secret way of committing time to each other. "Ready to go?"

"Sure, let's go." Gabriella stood up from her perch on the chair.

"See you crazy kids later!" Salvadore shouted as he saw them leaving.

"See you really soon Salvadore. We promise." Troy held the door open for Gabriella before exiting. He felt the cool air hit him and he shivered slightly.

"Wimp." Gabriella commented. They had been standing close enough that she could feel his slight shiver. She was simply wearing her dress and was fine in the weather.

"I'm sorry, I don't have twenty years of cold behind me." He retorted. "But you know, I feel a lot warmer when we walk like this." He flirted with her as he wrapped his arm around her waist once again.

"Did you just try to pull a move on me Bolton?" Gabriella gasped.

"What are you going to do if I did, Montez?" Troy realized he was really cheesy, but that was as close as it would get to him being romantic.

"Call you out on your cheesiness," She looked up in his eyes. Slowly their smiles faded as they slowed their walk. They came to a complete stop as Troy rounded in front of her. He placed his other arm around her waist, still looking in her eyes.

They grew closer and closer to each other until Gabriella had her arms wrapped around his neck and their foreheads were pressed together. "I know I said we'd take it slow, but do you mind if you kiss you?"

Gabriella's response was to close her eyes. She waited for his lips to press up against hers. When they did, she felt something she hadn't felt in almost twenty years. The kiss was simple, in fact, their lips barely moved. It lasted longer than the simple peck, but was quite shorter than many of the kisses they'd shared in their past relationship.

His lips were rough but warm. The cold weather had sucked the moisture from his lips and if she remembered correctly he hated the feel of chapstick. She immediately hated the feeling of the cold around them as he pulled his lips away from hers and the coolness her own pair. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked in the crystal color of his eyes and she felt her breath hitch in her throat. She had never felt like this after kissing Tom. Her heart was beating with nervousness and her palms were sweating. She reached up to run her hands through Troy's hair, which was a lot shorter than it had been in high school. It was silent permission for him to kiss her again.

This time, she felt him graze her lower lip with his tongue. Opening her mouth in acceptance she allowed his tongue to tangle with hers. The difference between this kiss and ones they'd share in high school was that this wasn't a battle. It was gentle and loving without the forceful need. Now they could show their need for one another through the gentleness of the kiss. She could begin to feel the lack of oxygen affecting her lungs. She had no choice but to pull apart.

As their foreheads rest against each other again, both smiled while trying to catch their breath.

"That was… I can't describe it Gabriella." Troy spoke breathily.

"Troy, call me something else. Ella, Brie, Gabi, anything else you called me in high school, please." She didn't know what to say. That kiss, it was better than any of the kisses her ex-husband had given her.

"Okay, Brie, that was amazing." Troy lifted his head of hers but didn't remove his arms from around waist.

"It was Troy." She bit her lip as he examined her face.

Troy couldn't help himself from noticing how cute she looked. She was nervous but in his mind she had nothing to be worried about. He pulled apart from her but grabbed her hand. Lifting it up he kissed her palm as they continued their walk through the dark to his car.

Troy had kept hold of her hand the whole drive home. When they arrived at Gabriella's house he walked her to the door, of course. He bent his head down to peck her lips in a good night kissed. As he surfaced, he spoke the final words before she entered the house, "Brie, that was the best second first kiss I've ever had."

"Out of how many?" Was her reply.

"I think it was one of the best kisses I've ever had, actually." Was his retort.

Giggling, Gabriella opened the door, "I'll see you next weekend Troy. Call me."

"Goodnight Gabriella."

"Bye Troy."

Troy smiled as he turned around to walk to his car. Turning the key in the ignition, he waited to pull out of the driveway until he saw lights turn on in her house. He could see her figure moving down the hallway and he smiled. That was definitely one of the best kisses he'd ever had.

* * *

**So, I have begun to write a new story. It is a prequel story to An Ocean Between You and Me and would be based off of Troy and Gabriella's high school relationship and if it develops that far college (That is unlikely though). I am not sure if anyone would be interested in reading the story though because I include so many flashbacks in AOBYM already. The story would NOT be a repeat of the flashbacks but an elaboration of the flashbacks and much, much more. I have a chapter written and I am ready to publish it if people would want me to. If you want me to and are reviewing please let me know, as well as if you wouldn't want me to.**

**Muchas Gracias,**

**Sarah-Anne**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'M BACK IN THE U.S.! Not at home yet, in L.A. for a layover to stay with my grandparents this weekend but updates should be more frequent from now on!**

**Have I ever mentioned that I absolutely love my readers and reviewers! Cause I do! Muchas Gracias people! Don't be strangers.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Troy Bolton was walking down the hallways before first period. Alex and him had driven together as always and there was about twenty minutes before his first class started. Most of the students were beginning to arrive and the hallways were slowly, but surely, filling with couples displaying affection, students in groups rushing to finish homework, and the groups of people who thought it was funny to stick Cheerio's up their noses.

Being a teacher was something he truly enjoyed. When he was in high school himself there was always that one teacher that stood out. The teacher that was funny yet could make Shakespeare as easy to comprehend as _Cat in the Hat. _In college he read a lot of classic American books. He didn't know what drew him in but it was almost as though he would pick up a book and wouldn't put it down until he was finished. That combined with a sudden passion to help others had lead him to majoring in education.

There wasn't much pressure with his job, sure he had to grade papers and fit all of the curriculum into the school year but that was nothing compared to the pressures brought along with being a lawyer or basketball player. He had consistent hours and he was one of the most liked teachers in the school.

Over his years working in the school, nothing seemed to be surprising. He'd seen a fair share of controversy but it was high school. Everything gets blown up and then a week later, everyone forgets about everything.

When he approached his room he slid the key in easily and jiggled it gently as he'd done for many years. He'd gotten upgraded to a large room on the second floor a few a few years ago in exchange for a sticky lock.

As he approached his desk, he set down his backpack and began to unload the essays he had finished correcting to hand back to his students. He sat down on the wheeled chair and booted his laptop up. By the time he had his attendance screen pulled up he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

Sliding it out, he smiled as he looked at the screen. Gabriella and him had an ongoing text conversation. It had started concerning the details of their date tomorrow night but evolved to funny stories about their kids, work details, and anything else on their minds. In just the few texts they had shared he had learned Gabriella's mother had gotten remarried, Gabriella's favorite color, food, beverage, and how Mia had come home from school a few days ago with an abstract painting that reminded Gabriella of a colorful naked man.

_Can't wait 2 see u tomorrow XoXo_

He smiled before replying, _Me neither, have a good day at work :D_

In all honesty he had no clue what they were. It was that awkward time where he wanted to call her his girlfriend but wasn't sure if she was ready to make it official. They were constantly texting but they had only spent a few hours together last Friday. This whole week he had been anticipating tomorrow night.

He had given her his address while they were talking earlier in the week and she was to arrive at his house around seven. His plan was to make her chicken stir fry and watch a movie on his couch. She had mentioned that she was getting sick of eating out. He wanted to stay in that night so that Gabriella and him could have as much time together as possible. By having her over she could leave as late as she wanted and they wouldn't have to worry about being surrounded by other people. It would be nice to have a night all to themselves without any distractions or interruptions.

Troy moved on with his day with a feeling that rested in the pit of his stomach that he could classify as girly. He wasn't exactly sure why he was nervous but he was looking forward to the day ahead of him.

* * *

Gabriella Montez slid into the pick up lane of her youngest daughter's school. It had been a fairly smooth transition at the new school. Emma had gymnastics practice until five o'clock everynight so Gabriella and Mia had some alone time together after school. She enjoyed spending alone time with each of her daughters.

She could faintly make out the back of her daughter's full head of black curls as she came to a stop. As she un-locked the car from the interior, she saw her daughter turn her head before saying goodbye to little red-haired girl. Giggling she ran toward her mother's car and Gabriella smiled. She loved that little kids were always happy.

"Hey honey," she turned and smiled over her shoulder as her daughter quickly slid into the backseat.

"Hi Mama," she rushed to put on her seatbelt as Gabriella put the car in drive to leave.

"How was school? Did you learn anything new today?" she questioned concentrating on the road.

"It was fine. We're learning multiplication tables," Mia continued, "But I'm so excited to sleepover at Jenny's tomorrow night! She said that we could watch _Wall-E! _Don't you think that movie looks good Mama?"

Gabriella laughed at her daughter's excitement, five minutes with Mia would make her forget just about anything. "Um-hmm."

"You were right! I did make friends, really quick too!" Gabriella couldn't help but smile at her daughter's happiness.

"Like Grandma says, Moms are always right," she smiled to herself at one of her mother's favorite catch lines.

"What are you and Emma going to do tomorrow while I'm at Jenny's?" Mia questioned.

"Well, Emma is going to her friend's house to work on a project and do you remember Troy?" She questioned referencing the man who took her on a date last weekend.

"Yep," she distractedly replied.

"I am going to have dinner with him again," she coolly answered.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Mia questioned after pondering her mother's new relationship.

At Mia's question Gabriella almost slammed her breaks out of surprise. She couldn't be Troy's girlfriend, not yet. "No, we are just having dinner. Why?"

"It kinda sounds like you two are dating though," the little girl retorted.

Gabriella didn't know how to respond to her daughter without upsetting her, "What would you think if I did get a boyfriend though?"

"I still miss Daddy but he has a girlfriend already. It's a lot of change Mama, I don't know if I like it," Mia responded warily.

"I know honey, trust me, I know," she spoke softly as they pulled into the garage.

The duo walked into the house quietly. Gabriella grabbed an apple from the refrigerator before joining her daughter on the couch.

"Do you think that you and Daddy will get married again?" Mia shyly asked.

"Come here sweetie," Gabriella motioned with her finger for Mia to rest her head on Gabriella's shoulder and she began to stroke her hair, "Honey, your father broke my heart. He lied to me and left me with nothing. I don't think I'll ever be able to trust him again, and that's the most important part of a relationship."

"So you're saying no?" she continued in her soft tone.

"You never know what will happen in the future, but I don't think it's going to happen," she paused for a few moments, "As much as I want to continue with our old life, we can't. If it were up to me, we'd be in Connecticut with Daddy, but it isn't up to me. Your Daddy doesn't want the same thing though."

"Why doesn't he love us anymore?" Mia spoke with tears threatening to fall.

"I wish I knew so I could fix it, but I don't know," it broke Gabriella's heart seeing her daughter hurt. It hurt even more knowing that it was true.

"Do you think I'll ever see him again?"

"So many questions," Gabriella giggled between tears, "I don't know honey. I don't know anything about your father anymore. Hopefully he'll come to his senses and realize that he's got two beautiful, smart daughters."

As the silence fell, Gabriella continued stroking her daughter's hair and let her thoughts run wild. The past few months she had been so consumed in the thoughts of Tom leaving her, she hadn't thought about the possibility of Tom re-entering her life. She hadn't even considered getting remarried to Tom or even about him wanting to see their daughters. She didn't think she could ever trust Tom with their daughters again.

"Do you think Troy will be your boyfriend?" Mia broke the silence.

"I think he will when I'm ready," Gabriella replied wanting her daughter's opinion, "Do you think I'm ready to get a boyfriend?"

"I think so. You've been happier since you went to dinner with him," Mia responded.

Gabriella chuckled, "I want you and your sister to be okay with it before I get one, okay?"

"Mm-hmm. Will I get to meet him?"

"If you want to. I think both Troy and I would like it if you meet him," she spoke.

"I'm the only one who hasn't meet him yet!" she exclaimed.

"I'll talk to him about it. Maybe next weekend we can go out to dinner or to a movie together so you can meet him," she giggled at her daughter.

"Let's go to a movie! I want to see _Gnomeo and Juliet!"_ Mia made her point.

"I don't know about that, but we'll see," Gabriella kissed the top her daughter's head.

"Doesn't Troy have any kids?" Mia asked in yet another question.

"He has a boy that's Emma's age. I don't know if either him or Emma will want to come, but I'll try."

"Okay Mama. Is he nice?"

"Yes he is, he's very nice. Trust me, you'll like him," Gabriella was happy that Mia seemed to be accepting her moving on.

* * *

Troy found himself chopping red peppers in his kitchen after school. Gabriella was destined to be at his house in approximately fifteen minutes. He dressed in jeans with a small patterned navy and while checkered shirt paired with a navy blue cardigan. He was almost finished chopping his vegetables and was preparing to throw everything in the pan.

He decided to take a small break from cooking to set the table and light some candles. As he began to whistle he grabbed the chilled bottle of red wine to pour into two glasses. Troy's excitement was building as the time passed. Alex was out with some soccer buddies and said he'd crash at his best friends house for the night.

Just as his pan began to sizzle, he heard the doorbell ring. Jumping, he moved quickly to the door and abruptly stopped. He didn't want to get to the door _too _quickly, he slowed down and casually opened the door.

"Hey, how are you?" He bent over to hug her and as they pulled away he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I'm good," she said with a large smile, "How about you?"

"I'm great," he paused, "Now that you're hear."

"It smells great, what are you cooking?" She took a look around his house.

"Chicken stir fry," he grabbed her hand with confidence as they walked toward the kitchen.

"Ooh, romantic Bolton," she commented teasingly seeing the candles set on the table.

"I try," he joked.

He checked on the food while striking up conversation with Gabriella.

"Nice place," she made small talk with him.

"Thanks," he excepted, "How was your week?"

"It was fine. I've had a lot of alone time with Mia while Emma is at practice."

"How's work been?" He didn't know much about bio-chemistry but he wouldn't deny any of the google searches he'd done on the topic in the past week.

"Work is, well work," was all she had to say, "It's still kind of slow, I'm getting used to the new coworkers and my bosses."

"I see," he was beginning to think that his food was almost done. He looked over his shoulder at Gabriella, who was leaning against the counter.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" the ever pleasant guest questioned.

"No, it's done actually I think," he moved the pan off the hot burner to serve their plates.

"It looks great Troy," she moved to place her hand on his arm, "You didn't have to make me dinner."

He looked in her eyes and decided that a quick peck on the lips wouldn't hurt, "I wanted to."

Troy motioned with his arms for her to sit down. He would have pulled her chair out, but she beat him to it. He moved the hot food to their plates and sat down in his seat across the table.

"How was your week Mr. Bolton?"

"It was fine," he teased repeatingly, "School is school."

"I missed you this week," she said with a gentle smile on her face.

"I missed you too. You'd think after almost twenty years a week wouldn't seem too bad," he smiled back at her.

"I know, even with all the texting and phone calls it was still hard," she raised her glass of wine to her mouth to sip.

"Alex has been picking on me. He thinks all I ever do is text you," his son had quickly caught on that he was becoming preoccupied with a girl.

"Mia is starting to catch on. Yesterday she asked me if you were my boyfriend," Gabriella thought that she could possibly lead into a discussion regarding their relationship status.

"Really?" He knew from experience that younger children were quick to jump to conclusions.

"One date and I'm in a relationship," she giggled.

"What did she, you know, what did she think about you dating again. Anyone, dating anyone. In a general term, of course," he fumbled out. He thought they had been on the track to a relationship but by the way she was acting, they weren't.

"She thinks I'm happier," Gabriella flashed a gentle smile across the table realizing she hadn't used the best word choice with her last comment, "She said that she wants to meet you."

"Oh, she does? She wants to meet me already?" Gabriella and him had only reconciled a week ago which was why he was surprised her daughter wanted to meet him already. It generally took a few months before he would meet the kids of whomever he was in a relationship with.

"I really think she's just curious more than anything. She's probably overheard a few of Emma and mine's conversations and I think she knows you were my boyfriend in high school," her daughter had been more than curious the past couple of days, "She's probably feeling a little left out. She doesn't understand all the terms of the divorce and-"

"Brie, it's okay. I get it. I don't have a problem with meeting your daughter, we can do it next week after Thanksgiving. It's a long weekend, I can even try to drag Alex along, although there's no guarantees with him," he said in between bites.

"Oh my god, I totally forgot," her eyes widened.

"What?" he spoke in a confused voice.

"Thanksgiving, it is next week! I don't know how to make a turkey or mashed potatoes! And Mom is going to California with Marcus to see his kids," her eyes grew wide at the realization that she couldn't prepare thanksgiving by herself. She had gone to Tom's parent's house every Thanksgiving since they got married and the closest she'd gotten to cooking was picking up a pie from a diner on their way over.

"Relax," he wasn't sure if inviting her over for Thanksgiving would be too much too soon, "I can help you with turkey. Or if you want- never mind."

"No, what were you going to say?" she pressed.

"Well, if you want to, I guess you could come over and eat with us. Only if you want to of course. I mean it is really soon but it'd be more efficient, we could work together cooking so it'd only be half the work," he rambled on.

"I think that sounds great actually, then everyone can just meet each other at the same time too," she spoke knowing that she didn't have many other options.

"Sounds great then, I'll call you to figure out what we're going to cook so that we don't miss anything," he shifted to rid himself of the slight nervousness.

"If you can cook turkey half as good as this," she pointed down at her chicken stir fry, "I can tell it's going to be one hell of a good meal. When did you learn to cook? Last time I saw you, you could barely get by without burning grilled cheese."

"I picked up a few tricks from my mom, mostly quick easy meals. After Alex was born I knew I couldn't get by with Macaroni and Cheese every night," he wasn't going to risk the health of his child because he was too lazy to learn how to cook.

"You know what we have to make?" she said eating the last of her food, "Apple pie. It's the best part of the Thanksgiving meal."

"Don't worry, we will have apple pie, it's not Thanksgiving without apple pie," Troy paused, wondering if it was just him thinking it was a big deal that they were sharing Thanksgiving together. It would be their first holiday together, without their parents. They were going to cook dinner, together, and eat with their families, together. It all seemed so domestic. After two weeks, they were going to spend Thanksgiving together with their kids. Maybe he was over exaggerating the idea in his mind but it seemed like a big deal to him. "I rented some movies if you want to watch them."

"Sounds good," she stood up and grabbed her plate from the table and followed him to set her plate down in the sink.

Troy wasn't going to waste his time with her washing dishes so he placed his hand on her lower back in suggestion to move toward the living room, "Let's go."

"What are we watching?" She settled on the couch and tucked her jean clad legs under her butt. She leaned back against the arm of the couch as she saw him fan out the three movie options.

"Which one do you want to watch first?" In his hand he held _Sixteen Candles, Mean Girls,_ and_ The Breakfast Club._

"_Sixteen Candles_ definitely," she giggled at his girly selection of movies.

"Hey, we watched these movies so many times in high school so I thought we should watch them again. I was thinking about you," he had his back facing her as he slid the disk into the DVD player.

"Fair enough," she said as he walked over and sat down next to her as apposed to the other end of the couch.

"Come here," he motioned for her to shift closer and he wrapped his arm around her. He kissed the top of her head under the dimmed lights and gently stroked her arm. As they cuddled closer, Gabriella bent her head up towards Troy. He got her signal to lean down and kiss her gently on the lips.

Four and a half hours and one too many glasses of wine later, they found themselves making out vertically on the couch. It hadn't taken long for things to escalate, especially with the alcohol flowing through their bodies.

"Troy," she moaned when he let get go of her lips. He was resting on top of her while balancing his weight on his elbows that rested on either side of her lips. "Troy, I, we should probably stop."

Continuing down her neck, Troy stopped and pressed a kiss against her collar bone, "Mmm, I don't want to."

Gabriella felt her back arch involuntarily, "Me either." She could feel her body's desires refusing her brain's.

"But…" he continued back up her neck to capture her lower lip between his two. He sucked in her lip and he felt her gasp. He could feel the gentle breeze of air retreating from her nose, desperately trying to lengthen the kiss.

"I, I thought we were going to," she was forced to stop as she was only speaking between kisses, "take things s-slowly."

Troy opened his eyes to look into hers, which were still closed. When they fluttered open a few seconds later he chuckled at her confused expression.

"Why'd you stop?" she felt her breath catch at the look of desire in his eyes.

"You asked me to stop," he bent his neck to peck her nose, "That generally implies that I need to stop."

"I'm sorry Troy," if he was feeling anything like she was, she knew it would be hard to restrain himself, "It's just, I've been struggling with this. Us I mean. Not that I don't want there to be an us, it's just that I was with Tom for more than fifteen years and we just broke up two months ago. I feel guilty jumping into a relationship."

"Ella," he brushed a piece of hair behind her ear while leaning back to sit up. He helped her up before continuing their conversation, "I get it, really I do. It's fresh still and as much as I want to be with you I'm willing to give you time to heal Ella. You just have to communicate with me about what you want."

Gabriella felt his large palm graze over her leg, "I don't want this to stop though. I want to grab a hold of the opportunity while it's hear."

"So you're saying you want to start a relationship?" He didn't want to push her while she was down.

"I do Troy. I just want to keep things slow though, I don't want to just jump into bed together Troy," she spoke shakily. Men were not all that high on her list of favorites at the moment.

"I don't want to just jump into bed either Brie," he paused, "I know what I want but I don't know what you want. I know you're worried about getting your heart broken but I'm not looking for a short lived fling."

"I'm sorry I'm making this so confusing," she looked down at her hand before lacing it with Troy's, "I don't mean to string you along like this."

"Brie, don't worry about it. I know you're struggling with this but I just want to know what you want."

"I think that I just want someone that I can talk to at the end of the day and will make me smile," she leant in closer to him, "I just want something simple, someone who wants to hold my hand and do something special for me. Eventually I just want somebody who will hold me close at night without wanting anything more than to be close to me."

Troy melted realizing he wanted the same thing essentially, "These past few years I've realized that all I want is someone that I know I can come home to everyday and fall asleep next to. I want someone that I can wake up next to and make breakfast for. That's when I feel the loneliest, coming home to an empty house and waking up in a cold empty bed."

"Are we together Troy?" The conversation seemed deep but she didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"If that's what you want," he left it open for her to decide.

"It's not what I expected moving to Albuquerque but I don't think we can just be friends."

"Then it's official," he shifted his butt so that he was facing her and crossed his legs, she followed suit and Troy reached over to grasp both of her hands, "Gabriella Montez, will you be my girlfriend again?"

Gabriella giggled again, she hadn't truly giggled for a long time, "Why yes, I will."

Troy then leaned forward to 'seal the deal' with a kiss.

"I can't believe that after two dates we agreed to this," she spoke up to break the silence.

"It took longer for us to get together in high school," it was ironic, generally high school relationships were rushed into a lot quicker than a relationship in their late 30's.

"I should probably call a cab, I don't think I can drive," she referenced to the glasses of wine she had downed.

"You don't have to," he knew there was an easier solution than for her to pay thirty dollars for a ten minute ride home, "Stay here tonight. You can sleep in my room and I can sleep on the couch or in Alex's room."

"Troy, you don't have to I can take a cab," it was at that moment she realized she hadn't brought her purse with. She had slid her license in the back of the case she carried for her phone.

"It's fine Brie, don't worry about it." He stood up from the couch to lead her to his room. He found a spare toothbrush and set out a t-shirt and some basketball shorts for her to sleep in.

"Do you need anything else?" He said before he leaving to grab a pillow and a blanket from the linen closet.

"No, I should be fine. Thanks for letting me stay," she sat down on his bed and tangled her hands together in her lap.

"No problem," he stepped over in front of her and kissed her forehead, "Goodnight Brie."

"'Night Troy," she said and watched his figure retreat from the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, I feel pretty stupid right now. Thanks to everyone who commented telling me that I posted Chapter 6 of An Ocean Between You and Me. This is the right chapter though. I honestly would've never known, so thanks. Sorry for the confusion everyone.**

**As always, I love my reviewers TONS, especially after my screw up.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Gabriella squinted her eyes at the bright light streaming onto her face through the cracks between the shades of a window. The sheets and bed were an unfamiliar texture, the sheets being slightly softer than her own, but the bed being slightly firmer. One of the first things she noticed about the room was the masculinity. Walls were painted a light grey, the sheets were dark navy blue, and the accent furniture was black. The bedroom décor was not the typical New Mexico style but fit nicely.

The shirt covering her body was large and read East High School and had a soccer ball with flames following from what she could decipher. For a brief moment she had déjà vu. Certainly she hadn't pictured herself waking up in Troy's bedroom wearing his oversized wildcat's shirt at the age of thirty-seven.

Her head gently throbbed with her slight hangover from the previous night. She'd dealt with worse but it didn't exactly make her chipper that morning. When she climbed out of the bed she pulled on the pair of basketball shorts she had opted out of wearing the night before, they were so large that she would just get tangled in them. Realizing she didn't have a ponytail, she groaned at her unruly curly hair. Troy wouldn't have anything to assist her dilemma with.

Venturing out of the room, she looked to the left and right. To the right was the living room they had watched movies in the night before and to the left were three doors, she assumed one was Alex's room, another a bathroom, and the third was probably a home office or guest bedroom. Most likely a guest bedroom, but then again Troy had offered her his room instead of a guest bedroom.

Walking down the hall, she peered around the corner to see if he indeed decided to sleep on the couch. Blankets were sprawled over his body and she could make out the top of his bare chest rising and falling in steady breaths. Sneaking into the kitchen she quietly located his coffee maker and the bag of coffee beans needed to make coffee. Hoping to be quiet, she poured the necessary water through the machine. Further ransacking his kitchen she looked for something to make for breakfast.

It may not have been the best idea for her to search his house without permission but she hoped to make breakfast as a sort of 'thank you' for letting her stay over. Deciding on eggs and toast, Gabriella turned the stove on and layed a frying pan on top.

Troy must have smelled the brewing coffee because within a few minutes she heard his feet padding toward the kitchen. He'd slipped a shirt on since he was on the couch, his outfit was very similar to hers, "Mmm, coffee."

Gabriella held a mug out to him, "You have a hangover too?"

"Yeah," he rubbed his hand through his hair groggily. Maybe downing a whole bottle of wine last night hadn't been the smartest idea. Similarly to Gabriella, he'd had worse but waking up with a headache was never the best way to start the day, "What are you making?"

"I was just thinking eggs and some toast, if that's okay with you," she knew Troy wouldn't mind her starting breakfast.

"It's perfectly fine," he began to dig through one of the cabinets, pulling out a glass, "Did you want some Advil?"

"Sure," even though she was facing the stove she could hear Troy open the bottle of painkillers and shake a few out. He set a glass of water and two pills on the counter next to the stove for when she felt unoccupied enough to swallow the pills.

"Do you mind if I run to my room quick and brush my teeth? Morning breath," he stated as though it would explain everything.

"That's fine, it is your house afterall" she tilted her head backwards, swallowing the pills.

Troy placed one hand gently on her shoulder and squeezed, hoping she would get the message to turn around, "I think we're forgetting something," he smiled widely at her. "Good morning," he bent his head very slightly to press a kiss to her forehead.

Letting the gentleness of his actions wash over her she repeated his words, "'Morning."

"I'll be right back," he backed out of the kitchen toward his bedroom, wanting to give her an actual good morning kiss but not wanting to subject her to his unbrushed teeth.

Leaning against the 'L' shaped counter Gabriella thought about how Tom hadn't ever greeted her in the morning that way. In fact, she couldn't even remember Tom sticking around for breakfast except for the occasional holiday. She'd always been left to feed the kids and send them off to school.

Gentleness wasn't really a term that Gabriella believed to be in Tom's vocabulary. He hadn't been a hand holder or a forehead kisser, actually he wasn't a fan of PDA or intimacy at all. At a younger age he had been, before he'd begun cheating on her and when they were just out of college and when she was pregnant. Sometimes she wondered how she never took his lack of enthusiasm for PDA as a sign something was wrong.

Before her thoughts got too in-depth she heard footsteps heading toward the kitchen once again, assuming it was Troy she turned to watch him enter through the doorway.

"What are you cooking? Smells good," came the less deep voice of her boyfriend. As the fifteen year old entered the kitchen and set a duffle bag on the counter, Gabriella's eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she could see the eyes of the boy widen at the sight of a female in his kitchen, "I just thought, I mean assumed, that you were my dad, I mean- you don't look like a man, it's just we usually don't have anyone here." He finished his rambling slightly breathless before continuing, "I'm, uh just, going to, uh, go to my bedroom or something."

Gabriella's shocked face just nodded, "Uh-okay." She watched as he scurried out of the kitchen quickly. The first time she meet her boyfriend's son was when she was in the kitchen, cooking breakfast, and wearing his clothes. That probably didn't make the best first impression.

/

Troy rushed while brushing his teeth. Wanting to get out to Gabriella quickly, he sloppily dragged the brush over his teeth while self analyzing the situation they were in.

For the first time since Krista left him, he'd woken to a woman in his house. It would be impossible for him to deny having woken up in other women's houses after spending the night, sometimes the post-date drop-off had escalated and turned into something more. After all, fifteen years would have been a long time to go without any physical connections. Never though, had a woman spent the night at his house.

His longing for someone to fall asleep and wake up next to had not yet been fulfilled, but this seemed fulfilling enough. Having woken up to the smell of coffee and eggs and a beautiful woman standing in the kitchen, wearing his clothes, had been enough for him.

Rinsing his mouth out, he heard footsteps from his bedroom. Turning around he saw his son with a smirk on his face, "You know, you could have given me a little warning."

Troy felt his eyes widen but tried to cover it up, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm not sure what went on in that last night," he nodded his head toward the bed, "or if you remember it, but there's a girl wearing your clothes cooking breakfast in the kitchen."

"I'm aware," was all that Troy let on to.

"You could have told me you got some last night, I would've stayed away for a while longer," his smirk was yet to leave his face. He thought he caught his father in the 'morning after.' "Was that Gabriella, or are you just playing the field?"

Once again, Troy's eyes widened. Of course his son thought they'd had sex last night, "Um, no, that's Gabriella and I didn't 'get any' last night."

"Really now?" His son raised his eyebrows at him, "Cause it sure looks like it."

Troy sighed, "I'll explain later, can you just make yourself scarce for a little while?"

"Five bucks?" Alex knew this could be a rare moment that he could embarrass his father.

"No way," Troy refused, "Two."

"Nope, not good enough," this wasn't out of the normal for them to do, "How about McDonalds for dinner tonight. With milkshakes."

Troy sighed, he hated eating at McDonalds due to the un-healthiness of the food, however his pubescent teenage son loved it, "Medium fries, no large."

"Deal," Alex turned to head to his bedroom, slightly shivering at the thought of his father having sex yet slightly impressed he was capable of finding someone that would willingly sleep with his father.

Troy shook his head at his son and prepared himself to face Gabriella. The run in had to have been awkward. Padding into the kitchen, he saw Gabriella peek slowly to make sure it was him. Without saying a word, he ventured over to her and bent down to capture her lips in official greeting.

As he pulled back he felt Gabriella shortly hit his bicep. He knew he deserved it, "Thanks for the warning your son was coming home."

He held his hands up in defense, "I'm sorry, I had no clue he'd be home so early."

"Early? It's 11:30," she wasn't necessarily upset, just embarrassed.

"Don't worry about if, he's going to make himself scarce until you leave," he tried to bargain with her.

"He probably thinks we had sex last night Troy! I mean look at me," she motioned down to his outfit she was wearing.

"Look, I'll explain it to him later, okay? He'll understand," Troy knew his son understand, it was just one of those things Troy would get teased about for a while.

Gabriella sighed, "Fine, it's just that wasn't the first impression I planned on making."

"He's fifteen, he'll get over it," Alex had more important things, like girls, to deal with. He wouldn't dwell on his father's relationship status for long.

Gabriella carefully transported the eggs from the pan to place on top of the toast. Smiling slightly while trying to forget about the awkward incident for a while, she held the plate up to Troy, "Here, breakfast is ready."

"Thanks baby," he smiled, too trying to forget about the incident.

"No problem," before she picked up her own plate she stretched on her toes and wrapped her arms around Troy's neck to kiss him. She tasted the sweet aftertaste of his mint toothpaste. As it came to the point of their tongues mingling she pulled back knowing that at any moment his son could enter the kitchen even if Troy said he'd make himself scarce.

"Really, this has been nice. I don't think I've ever had anyone besides my Mom make me breakfast before," his memory seemed to be failing him while he tried to remember the last time someone cooked breakfast for him.

"Then I present you, your first Gabriella Montez breakfast," within her saying she realized how easily Montez rolled off her tongue around Troy. Recently she'd been struggling calling herself by her maiden name. She'd been a Shwartz for fifteen years and it was strange. Then again, when she had dated Troy her last name had been Montez.

"I'm looking forward to trying it," he smiled at her for her thoughtfulness, he would have made breakfast without a thought, "You really didn't have to cook though, you are the guest."

"Consider it my thank you," she responded.

"I'll let it slide as long as you don't tell my mom," he chuckled knowing his mother would reprimand him if she found out Gabriella made breakfast while being a guest at his house.

"I guess I can't really be considered a guest though, can I?"

Troy pondered, she was his girlfriend now. Guests stayed a while and then left, not returning for a while. Gabriella however, would probably be frequenting his house quite often now, "I hope not."

"Plus I'm not really planning on telling your mother that I spent the night on our second date."

Troy's eyes widened at the thought, "Probably wouldn't be the best idea, you know how my mom is."

"She's great though, an amazing mother," Troy's mother had raised him to be a gentleman.

"I know," despite his arguments with his mother while growing up, he appreciated it now. It made him a better man and now a better father.

* * *

After eating Gabriella changed and prepared herself to leave. Making sure she had her phone and car keys, Troy walked her out to her car.

"So I'll call you tomorrow before I go to the grocery store, we'll probably have to go again but I want to make sure I'll be able to get a turkey," he was gaining excitement for their joint holiday in a few days.

"Okay, but don't go too crazy. It's only going to be the five of us," she reminded him.

"With Alex's appetite we'll have to cook for eight though," Troy knew his son was exactly like him as a teenager.

Gabriella laughed, "I better get going, the girls are going to need rides home and I want to shower too."

Troy looked at the watch he had slid on, it was a little after noon, "I'll see you in a couple days then."

"Bye Troy," she bent up to wrap her arms around him in a hug. She felt Troy nuzzle his nose in her curly locks.

"Bye Brie, see you soon," leaning down slightly he pecked her lips before fully pulling out of the hug. He opened the car door for her. Closing the door, he waited for her to turn her car on and pull out of his driveway before going inside again. Realizing she wasn't leaving, he watched as she rolled down her window.

Motioning for him to walk back to the car she spoke one final time, "One more please?"

He watched as she adorably puckered her lips to him. Puckering his own, he gently pressed his lips to hers. Closing his eyes, he let the kiss linger for a few seconds as he grazed his tongue across her lower lip. Shortly he explored her mouth before realizing they were outside in public. Pulling back, he let his eyes open and waited for her to open her own. Once they were open he took a few moments to gaze into them and rested his forehead against hers.

Slightly out of breath he bode goodbye one more time, "Bye."

"See you soon," before he removed his forehead from hers, she felt him peck her lips one last time. She could get used to this.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Filler chapter is really all this is.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

"Are you kidding me?" Emma asked her mother.

"No," Gabriella shook her head, even though she knew Emma couldn't see her.

Emma was sitting with her back against the couch, where her mother was perched cross legged braiding Emma's untamed curly hair, much like her own. It was Saturday night but Emma, still being the new kid, didn't have any plans. Mia was showering and Gabriella decided to break the news to Emma first, knowing she'd have a much more dramatic reaction.

"So you said yes then?" Emma questioned again.

"Yeah, I did," Gabriella wasn't sure exactly how her daughter was taking the information. She was probably still deciding how to process it.

"I'm really glad he's not my teacher," was all Emma could think to say to her mother at the moment.

Gabriella thought it was better than a completely negative reaction and chuckled slightly, "I guess that probably is a good thing."

"Are you sure this is going to be a good thing? It's not too soon?" Emma knew that this relationship could turn out to be disastrous.

"I guess we'll find out soon," Of course Gabriella had contemplated how quick she was jumping into a relationship, but it was impossible to deny she had chemistry with Troy.

"What happens if he dumps you?" Emma was always the realist, scarcely the dreamer.

Gabriella sighed, "I'll figure it out and move on again."

"I don't want to have to deal with this again," she knew that it was impossible for Gabriella to enter a relationship without emotions running through the whole family.

"Me either," she paused, knowing that one of her thoughts that pushed her into this relationship was not wanting to have any regrets. Her other main deciding point was that she didn't want to be alone forever and that she might never find anyone was as amazing and considerate as Troy, "But I don't want to be alone forever."

"But will a few months really matter?" Emma knew that the healing process should be longer than two months.

"What if he's the one?" Gabriella didn't want to loose an opportunity like this.

"Then he'd be willing to wait," Emma was beginning to get defensive, "You also thought Dad was 'the one' too."

"Em," Gabriella whispered, knowing her daughter was getting emotional over the topic, "What's wrong?"

"I don't like seeing Dad with someone else," she continued, "And I won't like seeing you with someone else."

Gabriella realized what was going on, the breakup would be real once Gabriella started dating again. Both herself and Tom will have moved on. Their life together and with their daughter's would be forgotten and a part of the past.

Gabriella's hands finished braiding and moved down to gently rub her daughter's shoulders, "It's going to be just as hard in a few months or even a few years."

Emma swiped at a tear threatening to fall from her chocolate orbs, "I know."

"Just give him a chance," Gabriella spoke desperately, "Please."

"Okay," Ultimately it wasn't her choice to make.

"You'll like him, I know you will," Gabriella bent over and kissed the crown of her daughter's head.

Emma remained silent in her spot on the floor, she would've moved by now but decided she didn't want her mother to see her face despite knowing that her real feelings were evident in her voice.

"I wouldn't be doing this if I felt like this was a waste of time," Gabriella tried to break the silence, "I'm not doing this to purposely hurt your feelings."

"It's not you that's hurting my feelings, it's Dad leaving us that's hurting my feelings," Emma knew that essentially, this wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for her father.

"Come to Thanksgiving dinner, talk with Troy and his son a little, and then we can talk about it, okay?" Gabriella tried to consummate.

"Fine," Even though Emma would be more comfortable with letting everything blow over for a few more months, she got a feeling from her mother that this guy was something special, "Wait, what about Thanksgiving."

Gabriella watched as her daughter turn her face toward her for the first time this conversation. Responding, a blush covered her face, "Oh, well he kind of mentioned Thanksgiving and I totally forgot about it with the move and everything. I've never made a Turkey or mashed potatoes or anything so Troy volunteered to help and then he kind of asked me if we wanted to just eat at his house."

"Oh," Emma was slightly upset that she would have to spend a holiday at a complete strangers house.

"Are you going to be okay with that?" Gabriella had noticed the slight upset in her daughter's voice.

"I guess so," Not really wanting to rebut at the moment.

"Come up and sit by me," Gabriella patted the couch cushion next to her, "I'm sorry I'm dumping all of this on you."

"Let's just get it over with," Emma said, knowing that the sooner the better.

"My what a positive attitude my lovely teenage daughter has," Gabriella joked sarcastically.

"Ha ha, funny Mom," Emma rolled her eyes at her mother.

"Should we make some popcorn and watch a movie?" Gabriella decided that the three of them could stay home and watch movies late tonight.

"Okay," Emma smiled at her mother, it would take some time to get used the idea of her being with someone other than her father.

* * *

Gabriella once again stood in front of Troy's door, her hand poised to ring the doorbell. This time though, she was waiting for her daughters to catch up instead of her nerves to go away. Troy answered the door wearing a plain grey hoodie and dark jeans, "Hey come on in, it's getting cold outside."

Emma couldn't resist a chuckle from escaping her mouth, fifty-five degrees was hardly cold. She watched as her mother reached up and gave the man a hug. For an almost forty year old, he wasn't looking too bad. Few grey hairs, lean body, blue eyes, and a decent smile. It was a step up from her father's salt and pepper toned hair, slowly growing beer belly, and his always stressed facial expressions. Although, now it seemed that the stress her father previously had may have been due to him trying to hide his ongoing affair from her mother.

"Troy, this is Emma and Mia," Gabriella pointed at her two daughters appropriately, "Girls, this is Troy."

Troy stuck his hand out for Emma to shake, knowing that a hug might be pushing the boundaries a little, "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Emma awkwardly replied.

"Come on in," Troy grabbed the grocery bag from Gabriella's hand, "Alex this is Emma, Mia, and Gabriella."

Alex stood up from the couch during the commercial, "I believe we've already meet."

Gabriella took his outstretched hand, shaking it with a blush covering her face. "Okay Alex, don't torture the girls with your football madness. Let them have control of the remote please."

Alex barely heard his father over the football game he was watching, one of his favorite parts of the holiday, "When's the food going to be ready?"

"In an hour hopefully," Troy glanced at his watch, noting the turkey should be done in about a half hour but it was a matter of getting everything else ready too.

As Troy and Gabriella walked into the kitchen they heard Alex say, "Well this is kind of awkward," and chuckled. Yes, it would be kind of awkward for the kids sitting in the room, but it would be less awkward than sitting in the kitchen watching Troy and Gabriella cook.

Once in the oasis of Troy's kitchen and he had sat down the bag of groceries Gabriella had brought, she wrapped her arms around Troy's neck and gave him a gentle kiss.

"Mmm," Troy licked his lips to try and rid himself of lipgloss, "we're going to have to figure out a way to see each other more than once a week."

Gabriella let her hand run up his hair, against the grain, "It's only been four days."

"Four days too long," Troy was big on the cheesy comments.

"Maybe this weekend," Gabriella started before she felt Troy's lips hit hers again, "But we should get cooking and talk about this later."

"Fine," Troy took a second to let his body get used to the feeling of her body leaving his, "I've been working on getting the vegetables ready, but you can work on the mashed potatoes."

Troy's kitchen had been transformed into Thanksgiving center. Turkey and stuffing were in the process of cooking, all that remained to be done was boil vegetables, warm rolls, and dump the cranberries out of the can. Not everything could be homemade.

Troy noticed Gabriella's blank look that she gave him, "You don't know how to make mashed potatoes?"

Gabriella shook her head, "No."

"Okay then," Troy grabbed a potato peeler and held it up, "This is a potato peeler, you peel potatoes with it."

"I know that, I'm not stupid," she rolled her eyes.

"Just start peeling the potatoes and boil some water, then tell me when you've got everything done," Troy set the potatoes next to the sink so that she could get started.

Gabriella attempted to start peeling the potatoes, finding the task more difficult than she expected. Pulling the peeler toward herself, she found that short stubs of potato skin was falling off and heard Troy chuckling from behind her.

"Peel away from yourself," wrapping his arms around her from behind, he took her hands into his own, "I'll show you." He started peeling the potato at a much faster speed than she had with cleaner lines.

"Your Mom taught you well," she commented, "I can't cook for shit."

"I can tell," he laughed, moving away from her.

"Well, you are a teacher," Gabriella began in her 'sweet talk' voice, "So you should teach me how to cook."

"I could teach you _The Adventure's of Huckleberry Finn," _Troy laughed, "cooking is a completely different story."

"Too bad I passed ninth grade American Lit then," she laughed, knowing that she had read Huck Finn many times being the dork she had been in high school.

"You wouldn't be my girlfriend if I was your teacher though," he went along with her teasing.

"Not in public," she joked, "Maybe we'd have one of those teacher student affairs that never happen."

"Yep, then ten years later you could write a book about it," he adjusted the heat of the stove.

"No, you're the one with the English major," Gabriella's focus began to lessen on the potatoes and shifted more toward her conversation with Troy, "You can write the book."

"Okay, we'll see how that blows over with the police," he began to strain the water he'd boiled the beans in.

"Shit," Gabriella cursed and wrapped her finger in the palm of her hand.

"What?" Troy turned his back around to look at her, "Are you kidding me? I didn't even give you a knife and you cut yourself."

Walking over he held out his hand for her to place her injured one in, looking it over he decided the cut wasn't too deep, "Alex! Can you get me a band aid and some anti-septic?"

He could faintly hear Alex mumble under his breath from the living room with what unseemingly was a sarcastic comment. Waiting a few moments, Alex walked into the kitchen, "What happened."

"She cut herself with a potato peeler," Troy said with a large, teasing smile.

Alex's nose scrunched, "How'd you do that?"

"I wasn't paying attention," She gave Troy a stern look, partially blaming her for the accident, "And then all of a sudden I peeled my finger instead of the potato."

Alex left the room laughing. Troy peeled back the wrapping of the band aid and placed it on her finger after applying some anti-septic to the sore, "Wash your hands and you can start again."

* * *

Gabriella tried to catch her breath as laughter poured out of her mouth. Dinner had blown over easily with Troy's son breaking the awkward tension. It had started out with faint awkwardness while they discussed favorite sports, activities, food, movies, etc to get to know each other slightly. Somewhere between the end of dinner and beginning of dessert, Alex had begun cracking many, stupid, jokes.

"What's the difference between a snow man and a snow woman?" Alex continued with his joke telling.

"I don't know," Emma said, wanting to move on to the punchline. Many times she'd had to work to prevent the food from spilling out her mouth at the boy's funniness. Mia looked perplexed, most of the jokes a little mature for her brain but nothing that would spoil her innocence.

"Snow balls," Alex smirked at his plate, knowing that he was a little full of himself and attracting attention.

"Okay, I think that's enough," Troy stood up, his cheeks slightly red from laughing, "Remember, she's ten."

"So, she doesn't understand it," he nodded his head toward the confused girl.

"Let's not allow her to understand," Troy grabbed a few empty plates covered with leftover filling from the pie they'd had, bringing them to the sink to be washed later along with the plates from dinner. "I was thinking we could watch a movie if you guys wanted to stay longer."

"Who said I was staying here longer?" Alex questioned.

"It's a holiday, I'm pretty sure all your friends are eating with their families," Troy said, "And who said I was going to let you leave?"

Gabriella looked at her daughter's, seeing them nod their heads that it was fine to stay longer, "We'd love to."

"Perfect."

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay longer to help wash the dishes?" Gabriella questioned with a worried expression on her face, knowing that it would take a while to completely clean up.

"No," He nodded at the girls who had fallen asleep on his couch during the second movie they'd watched, "It's 11:30, get them home and in bed."

"Are you sure? I feel like I didn't help out much, all I did was make mashed potatoes," She unwrapped Troy's arm from her shoulder and stood from her spot on the couch.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Troy followed her motions, standing up and placing his hands on her hips. Bending down, he placed a gentle peck on her lips before she began to gently shake her oldest daughter awake.

"Come on girls, time to go home," she watched as both her daughter's began to stir. Standing up, the girls sleepily thanked Troy for hosting dinner and walked liked zombies to the car.

"I'll see you later, this weekend right?" Troy asked before helping Gabriella slide her jacket on her shoulders.

"Yeah, this weekend," She confirmed and held her arms out to wrap Troy up in a final hug before leaving. Troy obliged and squeezed her waist tight to his. Letting his head drop, he let his lips glide over her cheek before moving to her mouth.

"Mmm," Gabriella muttered, "I should go."

"You should before they fall asleep again," Troy nodded, catching a whiff of her shampoo, "Give me a call."

"I will," She nodded, "Bye."

"Bye babe," He let go of her waist and opened the door for her, watching her reach her car and pull out before closing and locking the door.

* * *

**A/N: So next chapter I'm anticipating the full story of Gabriella's divorce to come out and after that a little drama. How does that sound?**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So, did all my readers suddenly disappear? 2 reviews? Really guys? Was the last chapter that disappointing?**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the created characters and plot line.**

* * *

"Oh my gosh, and then Jason he-" Gabriella's laughter prevented her from continuing her sentence. If she wasn't careful, her soda may end up her nose.

Chad, also laughing hysterically, decided to pick up the ending, "Ended up sticking his face in dog shit."

Taylor lightly smacked his arm to shush him after his loud expletive in the restaurant they were dining at. Chad took a peak at the people near them, it wasn't an entirely quiet restaurant but it wasn't a McDonald's either. No one had heard him.

"Moving on," Troy tried to avoid the memory of what happened between him and Jason one night many years ago, "What's everyone getting?"

After discussing meal options and placing their orders the topic of conversation moved onto more recent events. "I'm surprised you guys could come out tonight," Gabriella commented.

"I was pretty excited, I haven't been out much since Michael was born," Taylor smiled at her old friend.

"I have to admit, I was really surprised when Troy called asking if we wanted to come out to dinner with you," Chad referred to Gabriella in his conversation, "I had no clue you were living out here."

Apparently, Troy hadn't gotten into any details when he invited Chad and Taylor to dinner that night in late December, "I just moved back a few months ago."

"New job?" Taylor questioned, wondering where Gabriella ended up in the work field.

"Not really," the details of her move was something she wanted to put in the past.

"Oh, well what are you doing?" Taylor pushed on, slightly noticing her old friend's discomfort.

"I'm a bio-chemist at a research lab," she shrugged, it sounded better than it really was, "How about you?"

"Stay at home mom," Taylor stated with a shrug, "Chad here has taken over the family income with his job in business."

Gabriella tried not to choke on her pop, "Not exactly what I pictured either of you doing."

"High school didn't really lead any of us in the right direction I guess," Chad stated simply. Many years ago he realized he'd need to step up his academics if he wanted to make it in the real world.

"So, are you married? Have any children?" Taylor questioned, wanting to catch up more. She literally didn't know anything about Gabriella.

It was strange, but at the word 'marriage' her heart still seemed to get a little bit of a pang, "Divorced with two girls."

"How old?" Taylor figured one of her own children would be somewhere close in age to one of Gabriella's.

"Mia is ten and Emma is fourteen," Doting on her girls was one of her favorite things to do.

"I see," Taylor spoke again, noticing Troy sitting silently next to Gabriella.

"Emma goes to East," Troy spoke up after realizing he didn't have a large part in the conversation. He was beginning to realize that he'd left Taylor and Chad in a pretty shitty situation. Over the phone, he hadn't mentioned that him and Gabriella were together or that Gabriella had recently gotten divorced and to avoid the topic.

"I couldn't imagine she would go anywhere else," Chad said. The dinner was taking an awkward turn.

* * *

Stepping up into the licensing center, official divorce papers in hand, Gabriella took a deep breath. Grabbing one of the forms on the nearest counter, she grabbed a clipboard and sat down. As she took out her driver's license to record the numbers from her Connecticut license, she decided to take one last look at the picture. Her social security card was already changed, this was the last official recognition of her last name being Schwartz. Not only did she need to change her license and license plates from Connecticut to New Mexico, she was sick of looking at her previous last name. Giving this up was like eating the last cookie in the cookie jar and then throwing it on the ground to smash it in pieces so that it could never be use again. Letting go of something so good was hard but eventually it was bound to happen.

* * *

December was half way over and Albuquerque was in full holiday mode. Trees were decorated, houses had lights hanging from roofs, and signs popped up for giant Christmas sales around every corner. Cookies were made and "Jingle Bell Rock" was played from car radios. How the days were so sweet.

Deciding on spending their Saturday together, Troy and Gabriella had ventured out to the mall while their children were busy with friends. Emma was at a secret Santa party, Mia was at her increasingly good friend Jennifer's, and Alex was just, as he described it, chilling with friends. It was the perfect opportunity for them to purchase gifts for their children.

So far Gabriella had purchased some stocking stuffers, movies, CDs, and gift cards. Troy had yet to find something for Alex, he was searching around. Usually he didn't buy much for Alex. Ever since he'd grown out of his toy stage, Troy had simply purchased one slightly expensive gift that Alex really wanted and maybe a few gift cards. It was tough to pick out presents for a teenager so Troy just got him something he really wanted and called it a day.

Gabriella however turned the event into a scavenger hunt to find the perfect gift. Weaving in and out every store possible was obviously the way to go. While she was sifting through a rack of clothes in some sort of teenage clothing store she prompted a question regarding last night's dinner, "Why didn't you tell Chad and Taylor we were together?"

Troy hadn't shown any displays of affection that Taylor and Chad would have noticed. All that had amounted between the two at dinner was a simple knee squeeze and for a little hand holding beneath the table.

"I don't know," In the month they'd been together officially, they hadn't really told anyone besides their children and parents, "I wasn't sure if you wanted me to."

"Oh," it wasn't until then that Gabriella realized they hadn't really told anyone.

Troy grinned at her, "And Chad would have teased me to no end."

"Of course," her lips tugged into a loose smile as she rolled her eyes.

"Do you want me to tell them?" Troy didn't particularly like keeping this from his friend but ultimately Gabriella was his partner.

"I guess so," thoughts began to bombard her brain, "I mean they are your friends."

"They're your friends too Gabriella," Troy was beginning to sense some regret of her not keeping in touch with Chad and Taylor. Reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder, he stepped closer and bent his head to press a kiss to her cheek.

"I guess I'm just not used to it yet," taking a pause she spoke again, "I went to change my name on my license yesterday."

In the many conversations they'd had Gabriella's ex-husband, whose name Troy figured out to be Tom Schwartz, was avoided often. It was obvious she was still adjusting to being a single parent and the drop of someone so significant in her life.

"And?" Troy knew there was more to the story but she was wary to share.

"I'm not seeing anything," Gabriella didn't continue with where she had led, "Let's move on."

After that their topic of conversation had remained fairly light, mostly discussing gift options. Troy had decided on something for Alex and purchased a gift card to his favorite clothing store. As they reached the end of their shopping trip, Gabriella decided she wanted to make one more stop. Walking into a men's clothing store, Gabriella only had the intention of finding out what Troy liked in his clothing.

Browsing through the racks, Troy pointed at things and disregarded things that weren't his taste, "You like patterns."

Troy hadn't necessarily labeled his clothing taste as something certain, but that seemed to suit him, "I guess I do."

"And you only wear red, blue, green, black, and white," Obviously her observations weren't just from their trip to the clothing store, but it had emphasized the point. He mostly wore school apparel, checkered patterns with a solid sweater or thin sweatshirt over it, and occasionally plain polo's. Everything was paired with black pants, khaki pants, or jeans.

"It's easier to match if I pick things with the same colored clothes I already have," Pulling out a black button up shirt, he checked the price before deciding it was worth a try. Gabriella was off in a corner staring at a suit jacket. Noticing she wasn't moving he walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"It looks exactly like something Tom would wear," fingering the material, she wasn't sure why it had stuck out so much to her. It looked exactly like every single black blazer Tom owned. There wasn't anything that made it extremely special, and the simplicity is what reminded her of him.

"Are you going to get it?" Troy whispered in her ear.

"Why would I?" She questioned with a confused look on her face.

"I wasn't sure," Troy shrugged his shoulders, "I was just thinking you may get him something as a peace offering or something along those lines."

"Wouldn't that be weird though?" Maybe the idea wasn't that bad, but it would be odd to send her ex-husband a Christmas present, "I don't want to be a clingy ex-wife sending Tom a present."

"Krista sent me something for my birthday after she left," Even though they hadn't seen each other for years, it was a symbol in their relationship, "I appreciated it. It was nice to know she thought about me. And maybe he'll feel like after that he can contact you maybe."

"Maybe," she was wary of the idea, "I think he just wants to forget about me."

"Get it," Troy could tell there was something special about the jacket, sometimes it was comforting to be reminded of the past, "You can always return it if you decide not to send it to him."

"Okay," Troy was a guy after all, since it was his idea maybe she should try it.

* * *

Troy found himself tangled with Gabriella on her couch. After picking up Mia from a friend's house, Troy had taken the two girls out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Then they'd returned to Gabriella's house and Mia had gone to bed fairly tired after her sleepover the night previously. Gabriella had invited Troy to stay longer and watch a movie.

Movies had kind of become their 'thing.' It was easy to do and fairly cheap. Another bonus was that they could watch it in the privacy of their own homes and kiss and cuddle however much they wanted. Talking was easy and accepted whenever they wanted. It was the perfect solution and happened almost every Friday night, especially when Mia still needed to be watched.

Gabriella was still dwelling on the day's events. It was puzzling. "You can tell Taylor and Chad if you want."

"Hmm?" Troy questioned, he was fairly into the movie.

Her voice was quiet, almost in a whisper, "I said you can tell Taylor and Chad."

He knew the reason he hadn't told them yet was because in some ways Gabriella was still clinging onto her past and she wasn't over her husband yet, "You sure?"

"Yeah," it was beginning to really settle in now, Tom wasn't going to magically appear and sweep her off her feet asking for forgiveness and apologizing for being a jerk. Even if he did, at this point in her relationship with Troy, she probably wouldn't let him sweep her off her feet anyway. The time she'd been with Troy had proven to her that Tom hadn't treated her right, ever really. In just a month and a few weeks time, Troy had been so caring and gentle toward her, something Tom never was, "It's not like we have anything to hide."

"I guess not," Troy responded and lifted a piece of hair near her breast to twirl around his finger. Her back was to his chest and she was resting between his legs, head tucked into his neck and arms wrapped around her waist.

"Do you think I'm over him yet?" Gabriella knew that a large part of why she hadn't allowed Troy to do anything more than kiss her essentially was because she was still attached to her husband.

"You know what?" Troy pressed his mouth near her ear and took her left hand in his right and her right in his left so that their arms crossed around her midsection, "I think it's impossible for a person to get over a relationship like that. Ten, fifteen, twenty years is a long time to be with one person. It's one person you share everything with love, money, property, kids, sex, and memories. Those memories will always be there and I don't think it's likely a person can ever truly get over that. Moving on doesn't mean that you're over it."

Gabriella had refused to shed tears over him again but somehow they made their way down her face, "He cheated on me, for two years, and I didn't notice anything. I'm so stupid."

Troy sighed and pressed a kiss to her hair, "You're not stupid, he is. He left an amazing wife for someone who'd only suppress his needs for a short amount of time. Trust me, when he's eighty years old he's not going to be sleeping with twenty year old girls anymore. He'll be old and lonely with no one to take care of him and you'll have your beautiful daughters and maybe a few grandchildren. Even if he's not there, you'll still be better off without him."

"I can't believe he'd just do that though," her insecurities were beginning to rise, "Fifteen years and he just gets up and leaves. What did I do wrong? It's not like I was holding out on him or anything."

"It's a personal decision Brie," Troy knew he couldn't explain why Tom had left and cheated but he had a pretty good idea why, "An opportunity came up for him and as harsh as it sounds it seemed like that was the chance for him to take. It doesn't mean that whoever she is, is better than you Gabriella."

A good dose of reality was probably what she needed right now, "I, it's just, he took everything. I had his kids, we bought a house together, I made him breakfast every single morning and dinner every single night. I made him a comfortable home and slept next to him every night. It's all gone, everything except my babies."

"Would it make you feel more comfortable though?" Troy was going to try and lead her in a new direction and think of this in a more positive way, "If you found out he was cheating on you, if he told you, if his mistress told you, if a friend told you, would you really feel comfortable sleeping next to him at night? Wouldn't knowing that he'd shared the most intimate part of life with someone else make you uncomfortable? Even if he did let you keep the house would you feel comfortable coming home knowing that he wasn't going to be there? Or would it just bring up memories and make you feel even worse?"

Gabriella's hear stopped, she hadn't thought of it that way, "I begged him to stay Troy, he came home one day, said he'd cheated on me and that he was filing for divorce. I begged him Troy."

_Gabriella pulled her car into the garage like she did everyday. She took her keys out of the ignition, opened the door and entered her house. It was all normal. Tom was home after a business and she was excited to see her husband after he'd been gone for a week. Climbing the stairs, she heard silence._

"_Hey," She said, seeing Tom in their bedroom. He was packing clothes in suitcases, bags, anything really. Drawers were drawn askew and some of her own articles of clothing in some places._

_He didn't respond._

"_Are we moving?" She let out a light chuckle, only half joking. Something was obviously not right._

_Tom let out a frustrated sigh, "I don't know Gabriella."_

_Walking up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist as she pressed a kiss to the back of his shirt, "Hey, what's wrong? Talk to me."_

_Tom tensed at her touch and immediately turned out of her grasp, "I'm leaving Gabriella. Can't you see? Are you really that oblivious to everything?"  
_

"_What do you mean you're leaving?" Her heart twisted at the sound and sunk into her stomach. He couldn't be leaving, it was impossible. They were married._

"_Come on Gabriella, don't act like you don't know," His voice was escalating in pitch, "Don't act like you don't know I haven't been going on business trips."_

_Tears were beginning to fall down her face, "What do you mean?"_

"_I've been cheating on you Gabriella, for two years" Tom just outright said it, "I'm transferring to New York and you're not coming with me."_

"_What?" She'd never felt so betrayed in her life, yet she didn't want him to leave. He couldn't leave. She needed him, "What about the kids Tom? We can move past this, just stay, please Tom. Please."_

"_Gabriella, I can't live like this anymore," Tom began to pull at his hair as he continued shoving his stuff into bags, "This life is just too boring. I'm leaving, okay?"_

"_You have to at least say goodbye to them," Gabriella didn't know how else to get him to stay, "Just stay a little longer, please, anything Tom. I'll move with you, we all will. I'll forgive you, I'll do anything Tom. Please just don't leave me."_

"_I have to Gabriella," she attempted to wrap her arms around him, to get him to comfort her. It didn't work, "It's final."_

"_So what? I'm just supposed to wait for the divorce papers to come in the mail?"_

"_Yes Gabriella," Tom said and walked out of the room and slamming the door._

_Racing to follow him and get one last look, she watched him walk out of the front door of their house for the last time._

"I know baby," trying to comfort her, he continued with his own life story, "If I knew Kirsta was going to leave me, I would've begged her to stay too. At the time of shock, that's what you would do but after a month, a year, ten years, however long, wouldn't you just feel like he betrayed you? Would you ever be able to forgive him?"

Gabriella shook her head, "No."

"You've got your girls Gabriella, isn't that all that matters?" From his own experiences Troy knew that as long as he had Alex, he'd survive, "You've got a roof over your head, food on the table, a steady job, and you daughters. Parenting is the most important job in life, and you've got that down. You're a fantastic mother and that's what matters. Just think, everything can only go up from here."

Right then was when Gabriella knew she would be able to survive without Tom. Even if life was harder, she had what mattered. She had her daughters, she could put food on the table for them, a roof over their heads, and the most recent addition is that she has Troy, "And I have you."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So I definitely rewrote this chapter like five times. I was so nervous about whether or not to include the part with Troy and Gabriella but I really wanted to show that Gabriella was over Tom when... well you'll find out what happens when you read but my point is that I wanted her to have moved on before that part happens.**

**I also wrote two oneshots this weekend so keep an eye out for them this week, I seriously think it's some of the best writing I've ever done. Especially the second one I'm going to publish.**

**OH MY FREAKING GOD I LOVE MY REVIEWERS SO SO SO FREAKING MUCH! YOU GUYS ARE SO AWESOME KEEP IT UP POR FAVOR! SERIOUSLY I LOVE YOU!**

**A/N: I own the plot and nothing else.**

* * *

_Merry Christmas Brie XoxO_

Sitting up in her bed, reading a text message, was the first thing Gabriella did on Christmas morning. It was quite strange actually, waking to her boyfriend's text message instead of her ten-year-old daughter begging to open the gifts under the tree.

After replying, she tugged the sheets back over her bare arms. As they tickled her body, she shut her eyes to get some more sleep. It was going to be a long day. The first Christmas without Tom had finally arrived and she was less depressed than she anticipated. Ever since her talk with Troy two weeks ago she'd rapidly begun thinking less and less about her marriage. The realization that she could live without Tom was beginning to form yet it still scared her. She had always been backed by someone she loved, her parents when she was a child and Tom from college until a few months ago.

Holidays particularly stuck out as lonely. Every Christmas she woke up and made breakfast extra early for everyone. Usually she'd lean over in bed to wake Tom up too and then he'd give her the present he'd bought before they even got out of bed. Each year she seemed surprised, necklaces, bracelets, jewelry, etc., was generally what she'd received each year. Except last Christmas, sometimes she still wondered why she didn't take it as a sign, he hadn't gotten her anything. Nothing, not even a card.

Gabriella had already discussed with Troy when they were going to exchange gifts. They'd decided on spending the actual Christmas day separately but Troy wanted to spend the following night together. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened between them in the past few weeks but they'd been even more cuddly then usual. The night they'd had the conversation about her divorce they fell asleep on the couch together. Even though it wasn't intentional and had been very innocent, she couldn't describe the feeling she'd gotten waking up in his arms.

Hearing footsteps pounding on the floor, Gabriella decided that it was about time for her to get up. After she changed into a pair of yoga pants and a red t-shirt she went to open the door but her youngest daughter beat her to it, "Mommy! Come on lets wake up Emma and open presents."

Gabriella let out a lazily tired grin, "I don't know about waking Em up, but let's go start some breakfast, okay?"

"Please can we wake her up Mom?" Mia begged.

"If she'd not up in an hour we'll wake her up but it's still kind of early so let's give her some time," Gabriella was wary of waking her oldest up and having her in a cranky mood on Christmas morning.

Mia grabbed her hand and practically dragged her into the kitchen, "Can we have pancakes? Pretty please?"

"Of course," she went to the pantry to grab the yellow box of pancake mix.

* * *

"Is the girlfriend coming over?" Alex pestered his father.

"Not today," Troy responded with an eye roll. The teasing just never seemed end.

"Tomorrow then?" Alex was interested in his father's love life. He'd never been this interested in a girl.

"Yeah," Troy took a bite of his waffle, they were going to exchange presents after and then get ready to go to his parent's house.

"Did you get her something?" He wasn't sure if it was too soon for his father to get something for Christmas.

"Yeah," Troy was a little nervous, he got her a fairly simple bracelet. It was a silver Elsa Peretti heart bracelet from Tiffany. It didn't seem too outrageous of a gift for how long they'd been dating and his mother helped him with gift ideas.

"What's with the one word answers?" Alex wasn't trying to pester too much but his father was giving him the reaction as if he was.

"I don't know, I'm just hungry," He felt a little bad that his son was just interested.

"You really like her don't you?" Alex had never seen his father like this. He'd had a few girlfriends before but already his relationship with Gabriella was more serious than any of them had ever been.

"Yeah," Troy had struggled for a while, knowing Gabriella was guarded, and hadn't really admitted much to the longevity of the relationship, "What do you think of her?"

Alex smiled, despite not knowing her too well, he could tell that she was a good match for Troy, "I like her. She's nice and a lot better than other girls I've meet."

Troy remembered a few distinct moments, mostly when Alex was younger and voiced his opinions whenever he felt like it, that hadn't turned out particularly well, "I have to agree with you."

"Do you think she's going to stick around?" Alex had learned from his father's past relationships that single mothers tended to be clingy and were mostly interested in marrying fast, so as to have a father figure for their children, even if it wasn't meant to be.

"I do," Troy wasn't all that used to having these kinds of heart to heart conversations with Alex, "She's different."

"She'll make a good step mom," Alex knew that his father's relationship wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

All Troy could do was blush, "Hopefully." Even though it'd only been two months or so, Troy couldn't deny that was what he wanted. He wanted him and Gabriella, married, in a house of their own. Now, more than ever, he wanted that domestic life. The so called 'American Dream' was now what he aimed for. Troy had a feeling that was what Gabriella wanted too. Even though it was hard to tell this early in the relationship, he just had that feeling. That feeling was the one nobody could describe.

/

In an almost darting type of walk, Troy bounded up to Gabriella's front door. After ringing the doorbell Emma answered the door.

"Hey Em, is your mom ready?" Troy had a few dinners with Gabriella's daughters and they were slowly getting accustomed to their mother dating.

"Almost," Emma began to walk back into the house and left the door open for Troy to come in. From what Gabriella had said, she wasn't quite comfortable with her dating again but was glad it was with Troy.

"Have you guys eaten yet?" Troy wasn't about to leave Gabriella's daughters at home if they didn't have a plan for dinner.

"Pizza's on its way!" Mia exclaimed excitedly from the couch. She had adapted to Troy very quickly.

"And you have money to pay for it, right?"

"Mom left twenty bucks on the counter, that should be plenty," Emma explained less excitedly.

"Okay, good. Don't forget to tip-" Troy was cut off before he could finish.

"Ready to go?" Gabriella walked up behind Troy and tugged on his hand.

Turning around he gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Ready."

"Okay girls, I'll be home later. Lock the door after the pizza comes," She walked over to give her girls hugs and kissed Mia on the forehead, "Love you. Call me if you need anything."

"Bye," They both exclaimed before she exited the front door with Troy.

* * *

"Where are we going?" She could faintly recognize the area she was in but wasn't sure where he was going.

"You'll see," Troy never admitted where they were going. It was always a surprise and the only clue was what he told her to wear.

A few minutes later Troy pulled his car into a parking space and Gabriella just stared at the building, "You're kidding me."

"Nope," Troy smiled down at her before jumping out of the car and walking around to the other side to open her door.

"We're going bowling?" She was slightly confused.

"Not just bowling," Troy commented about the multipurpose building, "It's a theme. High school date night, get it? Bowling, go carts, arcade, laser tag."

"Oh my gosh," she really was glad he told her to dress casually, "I haven't been here since we went to prom."

It was true, the group of people they went to prom with had decided on having their pre-prom party there. She had to admit, it was fun running around in her prom dress, eating pizza, and riding go carts.

"Let's have some fun then."

* * *

The fun night had been full of innocent kisses and hand holding. It was one of the funnest dates they'd had so far. Troy had rounded out the night by stopping at Salvador's for ice cream and now they were headed to his house for their gift exchange.

Alex, per usual, wasn't home. Especially during winter break, he took the advantage of free time to spend with his friends, even if Troy wished he would spend a little less time with friends and a little more time on homework.

Carrying her wrapped bag, she sat down on his couch and made herself comfortable, "I'm going to run to my room quick to grab your present. I'll be right back."

"Okay," she replied and fingered the tissue paper.

He came back into the room with a bag smaller than hers that was striped green and red. Bending down before sitting on the couch, he pressed a kiss to her lips, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too," she shoved the bag at him, "You first."

Not refusing, he gladly took the bag. It was of medium weight, not light but not heavy. Opening the card first, he pulled it out and read it out loud. Finally removing the tissue paper, he revealed the first part of the gift. Pulling it out with a little confusion, he laughed while reading the packaging, "Ninja umbrella, complete with samurai sword. Nice."

"Keep going," Gabriella pushed, knowing that the more gift like part of the present was coming up. She'd heard him talking about his gym bag ripping so she'd been pretty excited with her find.

"Wow, this is cool," pulling out the red Nike duffle bag that was big enough to hold at least one basketball. It was personalized with his name on one end and a wildcat on the other, "Thanks babe."

"No problem," she smiled up, happy he was satisfied with his present.

After pressing another kiss to her lips he nudged her to open her own present. As she also removed the tissue and read the card, she gasped slightly. The large rectangle she pulled out was actually a framed picture of herself and Troy in high school. It was taken on graduation and they were making silly faces at the camera.

"There's more," he gently pushed her to search around in the crumpled tissue paper until she found the telltale robin's egg blue pouch. Gasping again, she opened it, not expecting jewelry. Unsnapping the button, she smiled in appreciation, "It's beautiful Troy."

"Good," his nerves were washed away, "I've never bought a girl jewelry before."

"Help me put it on," she handed him the bracelet and let him clasp it around her right wrist. The simple heart dangled down as she held it up and a little bit of light shined through the center, "Thank you."

"Your welcome," she this time initiated the kiss. Allowing his tongue to slip in between her lips, she greatfully excepted his prying mouth. Her hands slid from their placement on his cheeks to his shoulders before landing on his chest. They were searching, for what she wasn't sure, but they were roaming freely. She was doing this based impulse but that didn't mean her brain wasn't functioning. She'd decided earlier to let this happen. Whatever things lead to, would be fine. She was ready.

Troy allowed his own hands to explore also. Rising from her waist, they began traveling her body. Skipping her breasts, they brushed her hair back away from her face. With her hair out of the way, he began to kiss down her neck before raising back up again.

This week she'd come to a conclusion. The same conclusion she came to so many years ago. Troy was a gentleman, he knew how to treat a woman and had been so patient with her. He was there to offer her advice on her divorce. This wasn't a man that came around often. Actually, it stemmed to two conclusions, both she'd dealt with before. The first was that for her to completely give herself to Troy and give complete dedication to him, she needed to sleep with him. Even though it was soon, it was something that needed to be done. To her, sex was dedication. She'd slept with two men, Troy being the first and Tom the second. She'd given up every part of her relationship with Tom and for her to completely give up on the relationship, she needed to have sex with Troy.

Her second conclusion, was that she loved him. Yes, once again, it was early in the relationship. He hadn't changed though, he was still the same guy just more mature and older. He was dedicated, she knew he wouldn't cheat despite that being her biggest fear in relationship right now. There was a certain trust about him, she knew he would never cheat. To her, that meant everything.

"Wait," she stopped him before he kissed her again. Looking into his eyes one final time, she smiled, they were full and clear with passion. Not lust, like Tom's eyes had always been. Pure passion. Passion driven by being with a woman he cared about and the excitement unpredictability brought. That's what she loved about him. "I love you Troy."

Troy let his slight frown at being stopped turn into a smile, "Really?"

"Yes Troy," she smiled as she leaned in to kiss his neck tenderly, "I really do."

"I love you too Gabriella," she took her head back out of his neck, smile still evident.

"Why can't all men be like you?"

"You'd just need somebody else to stick out," Troy watched as he face came closer to his.

"Then I'm glad all men aren't. I'd rather just be with you," she pressed her lips to his again and initiated what they had going before. Feeling his hands roam again, she could tell he was still wary of pushing her out of her comfort zone, "It's okay to touch me."

The heat in the room continued to escalate. As touches became more heated, lips pressed further and harder to each other, "I'm ready Troy."

"Are you sure?" The last thing Troy wanted to do was scare her off by bringing her to his bedroom.

"One hundred percent," that was the last word that was spoken before Troy picked her up to bring down the hall. Doors were closed and everything that happened behind them was a secret for no one to know.

* * *

They were curled up in bed, sleepy, but not interested in sleep enough to actually fall asleep. Their clothes were scattered on the floor, long forgotten, as the clock struck two o'clock. There was no word to describe what Troy and Gabriella were feeling at that moment. Ever since finishing, they'd been talking about what they missed about being with another person.

Out of the blue, Gabriella's phone began ringing from the pocket of her jeans on the floor.

"Are you going to answer that?" Troy questioned her, it was disturbing the peace. Not that it was her fault.

Nuzzling her nose into his cheek, "If it's important they'll leave a message."

The phone finally stopped ringing but not for long. Once again the ringing began less than thirty seconds after it ended, "Just answer it Brie. If someone's calling at two in the morning it's probably important."

Groaning, she took the sheet and wrapped it around her body as she reached over to grab her phone from the floor. Her eyes widened slightly when she realized it was Emma calling, "What's up Em?"

"Where are you Mom?" She sounded like she was panicking slightly.

"I'm at Troy's, why?" All of a sudden she had a terrible feeling something was not right.

It sounded as though Emma was crying as she spoke, "Dad is pounding on the door and he won't leave."

"What do you mean dad's pounding on the door?" She bolted up and out of the bed and began to pick up her clothes to put on.

"I don't know how he found us, but he's here and he won't leave! He woke Mia up and he's yelling for you to open the door. I don't know what to do but Mia wants to see him," Emma wasn't able to contain herself anymore. It was the combination of being frightened of her father and lack of sleep.

"I'll be right home. I promise. Whatever you do don't open the door," She could tell Troy was startled too and he was pulling up his jeans already, "Call 911 if he breaks in, okay?"

"Okay, just get here soon," Emma's voice quivered as she hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?" Troy questioned as he grabbed his car keys and made a move to exit the door with Gabriella on his tail.

"I guess Tom's at my house and he won't leave," She looked up to Troy for support.

"It's going to be okay Brie," He grabbed her hand even though they were rushing, "I'll come with to make sure."

"I'm sorry this is ruining our night," Gabriella commented.

"Brie, don't worry about it. Really, let's just go," He pulled out of the garage and began driving over the speed limit and a little recklessly but he knew how Gabriella felt. Her daughters were in potential danger. It scared him, especially after getting to know them over the past few months.

Gabriella felt the tears slide down her face. Her daughters were at home, in danger, while she was out sleeping with her boyfriend. She'd never felt like a worse mother than she did at that moment in time.

The ride to her house had never seemed longer. It ended up taking only about eleven minutes compared to a usual seventeen, but it felt more like an hour. She kept her phone clasped in her hand in case Emma called her again.

Emotionally, he had already hurt the three of them so much, but for him to come to her new house scared her. She was finally letting him go and stopped feeling guilty, now he decided to show up.

He was standing at the front door, pounding away and shouting at it. She was surprised her neighbors hadn't called the cops yet. Tom's body looked worn, his forehead was wrinkled and the once growing beer belley was now prominent over the waist band of his black slacks. His words were slurred, an evident sign that he was drunk.

"That's him?" Troy questioned when she didn't seem to make a move.

She began to open the door of the car as she responded, "Yep."

Troy wasn't sure if he should stay in the car or go with her. He wasn't going to leave, especially since her ex-husband seemed to be so heavily intoxicated. Making a decision, he decided to get out of the car but stay near and only intervene if he felt it was necessary. As much as he wanted to be there next to Gabriella for the inevitable argument, it was her battle to fight.

Watching her from a distance he could easily hear her proclaim, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What the hell are you doing here Gabriella? Running away from life?" Tom brutally responded.

"I was running away from the shit you created Tom? Now tell me, what the hell are you doing here?" She demanded.

"I'm trying to figure out why you moved my daughters across the country!" Their stances were tense, Gabriella was standing with her arms folded, partly from the chill and partly out of defense.

"You had no interest in them Tom! You left me and them! You didn't want to see them and you didn't file for joint custody! Of course I brought them with me!" He'd never seen Gabriella so worked up over something.

"Don't blame this on me Gabriella! They're my kids too!" Tom was beginning to inch closer to her, Troy began to prepare himself if he made a move too close to Gabriella.

"What the hell are you talking about Tom? I told you I'd give you everything as long as I got them! That's all I wanted the whole divorce and you never argued with me about it!"

"And look at how you're treating them, Gabriella. Leaving them home alone all night while you go out and fuck some guy!" Tom gestured toward Troy standing by his car.

"Right, because you are so much better! You left me and them alone for weeks at a time. You don't support them, you never did. Who's been going to all their school programs and plays, Tom? Who drove them to practices every night? Who filed for custody during the divorce? Who cared about them enough to get them out of a town where everybody stared at them because their father was such a dickhead? Me, me, me, and me. I drive them to school, I make their food, I provide for them, and maintain a full time job while doing so!" Her frustration was evident and growing.

"I make twice as much money as you do Gabriella. I am more qualified to raise them." Tom tried to argue with her.

"No you aren't Tom. Look at you! Showing up at my house drunk, threatening to take my daughters after you neglected us for months. What did Shannon leave you? Or was it Missy? Jenny?" She ran through the names of the mistresses she'd found out about from the cell phone company while they were still legally married.

"Oh please Gabriella, admit it. You're too weak to do anything by yourself. Just look at that guy you picked up off the street. Couldn't you do better than that?" Troy would admit he didn't look his best but he didn't look like shit either.

"Don't tell me I'm not qualified to raise my kids Tom and leave Troy out of it." She demanded and Troy began to get a little uncomfortable.

"We'll see who's really qualified to raise the kids Gabriella," Tom was now up in her face, fists clenched out of frustration. Troy decided that he had to intervene at that moment before he did something stupid.

"Okay buddy, I think you've had your say in things. Let me call you a cab and you can get on your way," Troy approached Tom from behind and spoke gently, so as to not piss him off even more.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Tom snapped in his face.

"You know what? I think this has gone a little too far and that you need to go sleep off your alcohol. Then you can come back and have a civil conversation with Gabriella," Troy remained calm, knowing that this jerk wasn't afraid of him.

"I'm going to talk with my wife whenever the hell I feel like talking to her. You can leave now," Tom tried to get the stranger away from him so he could continue bullying Gabriella.

"I'm not leaving, however you can or I can call the police. You've crossed the line far too much and broken too many hearts already. So please, leave before you make this difficult," Troy took a step closer to Gabriella but didn't embrace her. She seemed wrecked with tears flowing down her face.

"Fine I'll leave, but I'm coming back for my daughters Gabriella," he threatened and Troy took out his cell phone that was already pre dialed to the cab company.

Troy made sure Gabriella made it back in the house while he waited for Tom's cab to show up so she could comfort her daughters. He stood outside to make sure he didn't do something destructive toward her yard, house, or his car. After paying the taxi driver and giving him the address to a hotel, Troy made a move to enter Gabriella's house. Walking in, he noticed her standing in the kitchen with a terrified Emma standing near her. She didn't seem in the mood to talk and was wiping at her ruined makeup with a Kleenex. Mia was sitting on the steps, partially terrified and part confused at what had just happened. She'd never seen her parents fight like that before.

Bending down in front of the steps and Mia, he brushed some of her hair out of her face. She was tired and frightened, "You okay kiddo?"

She bit her lip and clutched a stuffed animal tighter to her body and nodded her head, "Why was Daddy here?"

Troy sighed, not wanting to lie to the innocent girl but not wanting to talk about it at the same time, "He's just frustrated and didn't know what to do."

"Is he going to make me go back to Connecticut?" She let a tear drop from her eye, they had heard everything from the argument.

Troy extended his arms out to her and gave her a tight squeeze, "I hope not." He pulled back a little to look at her, "Why don't you go back to bed, okay?"

"Are you leaving?" She questioned, standing up from her spot.

"No, I'm not," he assured and patted her head before watching to make sure she made it up the stairs before walking in the kitchen to Gabriella and Emma.

Gabriella looked frozen, she obviously wasn't expecting what had just happened. She'd been tired before the argument, but it was stressed even more now after the argument. First he approached Emma, who welcomingly accepted his outstretched arms. She needed a hug but it wasn't Gabriella's time to provide comfort right now. In fact, she needed to be comforted herself.

"How about you? Are you okay?" Troy repeated the question, she wasn't going to let go quite yet.

Emma shrugged her shoulders not wanting to admit she was scared. Troy just rubbed her back more at the response, "When did he get here?"

"I don't know, I was asleep," Emma forced her body away from Troy's. She was in shock, now may not be the best time to talk about what happened, "I think I'm just going to go back upstairs."

Troy nodded in understanding, "Okay, goodnight."

Emma left the room but not without giving her mother a hug first. Gabriella squeezed her and kissed her forehead while whispering, "I love you."

"Love you too Mom," She said while pulling away and leaving to get a much deserved sleep.

Once she exited the room Troy looked over at Gabriella who was letting tears flow down her face. Troy took a few steps around the counter to stand closer to her and waited to see whether or not she wanted him at that moment.

Turns out she did. She practically threw her arms around him and let the tears fall freely. Troy rubbed her back and tried to comfort her as best he could, "Shh. It's going to be okay."

"Wha- what if," she sniffed as she stuttered through her tears, "What if he takes them away from me?"

"Brie," Troy just held her closer and kissed her forehead, "He won't. Trust me, he could try but he won't win. The girls want to stay here. He won't make it through court system."

"He's a lawyer," Gabriella sniffled and looked up at him, "He didn't even hire a lawyer for our divorce. He represented himself and he still got everything except them. I can't loose them Troy, I can't."

"He's got skill," Troy was back into comforting mode, "But you love them. Love conquers skill. You love them and they know it, okay?"

Gabriella nodded into his chest but didn't make a move away from him, "I'm really sorry this happened."

"Gabriella, please, don't worry about it. You can't control him," his fingers were running through her hair. She looked like she had endured a lot that night, and she had.

"Can you stay here tonight? Please?" She begged, looking up into his eyes. Troy could see she was worn down, tired, exhausted, and frustrated. Her eyes were wide and she looked vulnerable.

Troy kissed her forehead and pulled her back into his chest, "Of course."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Anyone else finish up exams at college last week? WOOP WOOP I'M FREE! haha, not really because I still have two high school classes but whatever, that's easy. More time for me to update my stories for MY ABSOFRIGGINLUTELY LOVELY REVIEWERS!**

**Disclaimer: As always, I don't own anything you may recognize.**

* * *

Troy woke up sometime around nine that morning, well before anyone else in the household. He'd decided on letting Gabriella get as much sleep as possible and went downstairs to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. Waffles and pancakes are what he decided on, knowing that he could make the same mix for both.

Mia was the first female to wake up, she came down the stairs right as Troy was finishing the first pancake. He almost didn't even hear her walk down the steps until she said, "Good morning."

"'Morning Kiddo," Troy responded, "Do you want a pancake? Or a waffle?"

"I'll have a pancake please," Mia rubbed her eyes and sat on a stool at the counter top.

"Did you sleep okay?" Troy attempted to break the ice between them.

She just nodded her head, still obviously sleepy. Troy continued making pancakes as the silence fell over them. It was only a matter of time until Gabriella would wake up, he felt as though she wouldn't allow herself to sleep much longer due to what had happened the previous night. Nobody knew if or when Tom would show up again.

Troy just dug in to his own pancake when Mia spoke to him again, "Troy?"

"What?" He responded, brushing some syrup off the corner of his mouth.

"Have you ever been married?" Mia questioned bluntly, like many younger children.

"No I haven't," Jokingly he continued, "Have you?"

Mia scrunched her face up, a result of her nose raising in disgust, "NO! Boys are gross."

"Remember that when you're sixteen," Troy bent his elbows and rested on the counter, "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, I was just wondering because Alex and you never talk about his mom," She shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal.

"Alex never really knew his Mom," Troy explained and took another bite of his pancakes.

"Why not?" The concept was hard for someone who had grown up living with both their parents.

"Alex's Mom didn't really want a baby."

"Oh," She stared at her pancake and pushed her plate toward Troy, "Can I have another one?"

"Of course," Troy smiled at her and picked up her plate when they heard someone begin to walk down the stairs. Gabriella looked terrible, her face not washed from the previous day had left streaks of mascara. Her frown was ever so present and ungraceful on her face.

"Good morning Mommy," Gabriella bent over Mia and placed a kiss on top of her head.

"'Morning," she responded.

"Pancake?" Troy suggested and held a plate out to her as she finally smiled.

"Thanks," Troy slung an arm over her shoulder and gently squeezed it in a comforting way.

* * *

Two days had passed since Tom showed up at Gabriella's house and every day Troy showed up to check on them, giving the excuse that he was bringing dinner or forgot something at her house. In all actuality he'd rather find out in person that Tom had returned than on the phone.

Slowly Gabriella was building confidence that he may not come back, but at the time it seemed very unlikely he wouldn't show up. He was probably planning on how to best work the confrontation. Lawyers were persuasive, that was their job.

Gabriella had spent most of the time with her daughters, spending time with them and savoring her time off of work. They hadn't gone out on a date since the day after Christmas and it didn't seem like there was going to be one too soon.

Today Troy had spent almost all day playing basketball, video games, and eating pizza. Just some of the many perks of living in an all male household. His cell phone began to ring in his pocket, "Hello?"

"Hey," Gabriella responded on the other end.

Troy replied, "What's up Brie?"

"Ooh, Brie," Alex drawled out next to him.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over and have dinner, maybe watch a movie?" She said to him.

"Of course I'd like to," Troy looked over at Alex for approval, "What time?"

"Whenever," She spoke back.

"Okay, I'll leave at seven then and pick up something to bring over. Should I get some food for Mia and Emma?" He questioned.

"Emma's leaving soon, but it'd be great if you got something for Mia," She replied thankfully.

"No problem," He said, "I'll see you soon."

"Bye," She hung up the phone after that.

"So," Alex started, "How's the whole ex-husband thing going?"

Troy had told Alex about it the day he hadn't been home in the morning, "I don't know, he hasn't shown up yet."

"Think he will?" His eyes remained focused on the television screen.

Troy sighed, "I honestly have no clue. I hope he doesn't."

"The guys got balls to do that," Alex shot down one of Troy's players in the game they were playing.

"Shit," Troy threw his head back, "I know he does."

"Can you drop me off at A.J.'s on your way?" Alex set the controller down and glanced at his watch, "I think I'm going to shower."

"Yeah," Troy nodded, "Want to come with and get some food before you go."

"Nah," Alex shrugged, "We'll probably order pizzas."

"Okay," Troy replied.

* * *

Instead of standing in front of her door waiting for someone to open, he walked right in. Nobody would mind.

"Gabriella! I'm here," He shouted, walking in, so someone would hear him.

"Troy!" Mia squealed from her spot at the kitchen counter, working on an art picture.

"Hey kiddo," Troy bent down as she reached for a hug, "I brought some food."

"Good, I'm starving," She declared from her spot.

Sifting through the bag, he began pulling out various items, "Let's see, we've got chicken, beef, and some veggies."

"I'll have chicken please," She said and Troy pulled out a plate.

"Where's your Mom?" Troy questioned while scooping some chicken on the side of her plate, along with some veggies.

After shoving her project to the side, she replied, "I think she's on a phone call with work."

"Okay," He nodded, dishing up his own plate, "I was at the red box, and I was thinking maybe you'd want to watch the movie with us?"

Troy held up the movie _Secretariat. _Mia hopped up from her spot and grabbed the DVD from Troy, "I'll go put it in."

Troy chuckled at her excitedness, "Okay."

Gabriella came downstairs a few minutes later and put some food on a plate and then sat next to Troy on the couch. Gently, she pulled him closer so that she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"Everything okay?" He whispered in her ear and she nodded her head in response.

Turning her head she whispered back, "Just some work stuff."

Troy nodded and looped his arm through hers, instead of wrapping his arm around her, so they could continue to eat their food easily, "Nice movie choice."

"I was keeping your lovely daughter in mind," Troy whispered back.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Sure you were."

"I was," He responded defensively, "Admit it, you want to see this too."

"Yeah," she replied, "With my kids."

Troy smiled, "So what? You can't watch it with your boyfriend."

"Shh," Mia whispered harshly at the two.

"You heard the girl," Gabriella stuck her face by his, "SHH."

Troy laughed and continued stuffing food in his mouth, deciding not to talk again until Mia fell asleep. Funny enough, she was the only one who didn't make it through the movie.

"I'll wake her up and send her to bed," Gabriella whispered once the movie was over.

Troy stopped her before she could attempt to wake the young girl up, "I'll carry her up."

"You don't have to do that," Gabriella responded to his gesture.

"I have to put these muscles to use sometime," He flexed one arm.

Gabriella laughed, "Oh just get over yourself already."

Troy bent over and gently, so not to wake Mia up, scooped her into his arms. Slowly and carefully, he climbed the steps. When he felt her move, he stopped and held his breath for a second before continuing. After placing her in the bed and pulling the covers up, he left the room to return to Gabriella.

She was sitting at the couch, not really doing anything, with her legs propped up and her arms wrapped around them.

After sitting down and wrapping his arm around her, "What's wrong?"

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."

"Are you sure?" He knew he was probably getting annoying but she just had this expression read on her face that something wasn't quite right.

"It's just everything piling up," She admitted, "I've had way too much time to sit around and think about everything that's happened recently."

Troy nodded and squeezed her shoulder.

"I thought I would get a little upset on Christmas without Tom and then get over it and spend time with Emma and Mia," Gabriella took a breath and continued, "I don't understand why he wants them. I get that they're his kids but he hasn't showed any interest in them since he left us. He never once argued for custody. He only wanted things worth money."

"Life doesn't make sense," Troy continued to rub his hand up and down her arm.

"I can't do anything without thinking he's going to show up and demand custody. I can't deal with him anymore," Her voice began to quiver.

"I know Brie."

"I'm such a wimp. I feel bad that this always happens when we have alone time," She apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Over all Troy was happy to be spending time with her.

"How many movies do you think we've watched since we got together?" Gabriella laughed.

"A lot," Troy responded, sensing her shift of subject.

"We really need to get lives," She mentioned teasingly.

"We're old," Troy joked and stretched his arms out, "We don't need lives. Retirement's just around the corner. Then the party begins."

Gabriella giggled, "Well, we're almost halfway there."

Troy nudged his head against her shoulder and sighed, "What are we going to do when we retire? Go to Old Country Buffet?"

Gabriella groaned, "Oh hell no. I'm not going to Old Country Buffet today, tomorrow, or yesterday, never."

"I feel bad for whoever's going to have to put up with me," This was the first time they discussed their future, together, "I'm going to be so antsy."

"We could do the whole cliché travel thing," She suggested, "Or we could move to the Bahamas."

"Now that is a good idea," He smiled at the thought, "Bahamas, beach, bikinis. The three 'B's.'"

"Oh my God," She rolled her eyes at him, "Maybe that's not the best idea."

"Oh please," Troy responded, "You know your bikini is the only one I'll be looking at."

Gabriella wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "I probably won't be wearing bikinis at that age."

He pressed a kiss to her shoulder through her sweatshirt where his head was resting, "Oh yes you will."

"We'll see," She turned her head to kiss his forehead, "You seem a little overconfident in my ability to maintain body weight."

Suddenly, Troy pushed her over so that she was lying down on the couch and Troy was resting on top of her. He wasn't straddling her but the inner side of his thighs pressed against her outer thighs, so that their groins were parallel to each other. Troy rested his elbows near her shoulders, careful not to tug her long hair, "You'll always be sexy."

Then he bent his head down to kiss her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Mia's upstairs."

"So what, she's asleep," His lips trailed over her nose and her jaw, up to her ear, "Who says we can't at lest make out a little."

"That's it though," Gabriella warned sternly, "I refuse to have sex while my very innocent ten year old is in the house."

"Did you have sex with Tom when your daughter's were in the house?" He tried to prove a point.

"No," She lied and he peeled away to look at her, "Okay yes. Only when I was sure they wouldn't hear."

"What's different then? She won't hear," He continued to push the subject.

"Don't take this the wrong way," She explained as he nipped at her shoulder, "But if we get caught, I'm going to have to explain something I'd rather not in the first place and it's very likely Emma will find out. She's still not adjusted yet and who knows what'll happen when she finds out we're having sex."

"Call it what you want, but I prefer making love," He drawled out in a sexy, deep tone, "But she probably already knows."

"What?" She squeaked and made a move so that she was farther away from Troy, "How would she know?"

"Baby," Troy pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her cheek, "What do you think she thought we were doing when you weren't home at two in the morning?"

"She wouldn't assume that," Gabriella denied.

"I spend all day with teenagers," Troy looked her in the eyes, "She knows far more about sex than you think she does. Remember when we were in high school?"

The thought of her teenage self being applied to her daughter made her shutter, "Shit."

Troy laughed and kissed her embarrassment away, "I love you."

"Mmm, I love you too," She lightly groaned as his cold hands slipped under the waistband of her sweatpants, only to come into skin contact with her uncovered ass.

"Do you take it back now?" He pushed the sleeve of her sweatshirt over to kiss her coller bone.

"Only if you keep doing stuff like that," Gabriella reached up to run her hands through his hair, "Gosh, you've gotten even better since high school. And we had some really good times."

"Really, _really,_ good times," He smirked against the very upper part of her breast, "And I can do this, and much more, all night long."

"I might just have to take you up on that then," She gave in.

"You just can't stand the peer pressure now, can you?"

"Peer pressure, yes I can," Gabriella said, "Troy pressure? Not so much."

* * *

For the second time in one week, Troy found himself waking up under white covers surrounded by yellow walls, "Brie, honey, wake up."

"Mmm," was the only response he got when he tried to wake her by rubbing his hand up her arm.

"Brie," He drug her name out, "It's ten o'clock. Mia's going to be up soon if she isn't already."

"Two minutes," She groaned and rolled from her side to her chest.

Troy slid his hands under the sheets to the sides of her hips and began to rub all the way up, lingering over the sides of her bare breasts, and back down again. He repeated over and over until she gained some consciousness, "Wake up Brie."

She turned her head in the direction of the side of the bed he was on, "Come wake me up every day."

"Believe me," He stopped his ticklish actions and lied back down on his chest, so that his face was so close to hers that if either of them moved, their noses would brush, "I would if I could. But we should still try and get up before Mia so she doesn't get suspicious."

"Look who's worried now," She rubbed back in his face.

"Don't gloat," He warned like she was a little kid.

"I'm going to gloat as much as I feel like," Gabriella stood up out of bed and wrapped a sheet around her body for coverage, "Take your stuff."

Troy caught with one hand the boxers she threw at him as well as a shirt and his jeans. After they changed, they proceeded downstairs with relief to find that Mia wasn't up yet. Gabriella grabbed the mail from the floor near her front door and the slot it fell from. Glancing through it, she separated the junk from the bills until she reached an envelope that had a name on it that shocked her slightly. It wasn't unfamiliar, Brother's lawfirm. Located in Boston, New York, and Hartford. Obviously it had to be from Tom.

Her hands shook slightly as she tried to rip open the letter and walk into the kitchen at the same time, "I, I can't open it."

Gabriella dropped the letter onto the counter for Troy to pick up, "What is it?"

"It's from Tom," She explained, it was the only possibility. It was from the lawfirm he worked for.

"Already?" He picked up the envelope and glanced at it.

"You open it, I can't," The anticipation of what was inside was already the worst part.

"Are you sure?" Troy didn't want to be the first to see it if she wasn't sure.

"I can't," Gabriella just folded her arms defensively across her chest, "I can't do it. Just open it."

"Okay," He slid his finger under the flap and tugged at it. He pulled out the folded papers and slid them toward her.

She skimmed the papers over and dropped them back onto the counters, "He doesn't want them."

"What do you mean?" Troy was perplexed, didn't Tom just show up threatening for custody of Emma and Mia.

"I mean he wants custody of them," She explained, "But he doesn't want full custody. He filed for partial custody. That means all he wants to do is fight with me. I know Tom well enough to know that he has to win everything. But he doesn't want them enough to file for full custody."

"That's good Brie," Troy wrapped an arm around and squeezed her into a half hug, "Is there a date set?"

"If we can settle it with out lawyers, we don't have to even bring it to court," She knew from her short time in law school how some of this worked, "But he's got a stubborn ass."

"Look at the bright side though," He comforted, "You'll still, no matter what, have some sort of custody of them. Even if he does win, he probably won't stick to whatever you two end up agreeing to."

"I just don't know how the girls will take it," She knew she had some influence over the image of their father, which wasn't so great right now, "I can't believe he's trying to pull off something like this."

"Time has changed things," Troy offered.

"He's not the same guy I married fifteen years ago," Gabriella took a deep breath.

* * *

**Just because things are looking up doesn't mean it's all going to be glitter and unicorns from now on.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So the drama continues. Dun dun, dun dun. I really, really hope you all like this chapter. I know it's going to twist things up a bit.**

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately have not acquired any sort of HSM since my last update.**

* * *

"You'll call me when you land, right?" Troy asked as he walked with Gabriella to the security checkpoint.

She nodded her head and Troy handed her bag back, "ASAP."

"Good," He held his arms out to her for a hug, "Don't do anything stupid."

Gabriella giggled and kept her arms wrapped around his waist, "Whatever you say Mom."

"It seemed like the appropriate thing to say," Troy pulled his head away from her from hers and looked down, "Damn, I'm going to miss you."

"It's only four days," Even though they pulled away from each other, Troy still kept one hand around her body.

"Four days too many," He faked a pout.

"Troy," She nagged, "Let me go, I'm going to miss my flight."

"My goodness Gabriella," Troy sighed with a smile, "You aren't going to miss your flight."

Gabriella made him pick her up two hours before her flight left, she had already checked her luggage and she still had an hour and a half until takeoff.

"Bye Troy," She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, "It's only four days. We've gone a whole week before."

"Hey now," He tugged her hand before she even turned around to walk away, "Don't think you're getting away so fast." Troy slid his hands up to her cheeks and gave her a short kiss, "I love you."

"I love you too," Gabriella wrapped her arms around her waist for a quick hug, "And I promise not to do anything stupid."

"And you're friend is supposed to pick you up?" Troy questioned her in a protective way.

"Yes," She laughed in response, "At six fifteen, Laura will pick me up and bring me to her house, where I will stay for the next four days."

"Okay," He sighed, "I guess I can let you go now. Call me, even if you don't need anything."

"Trust me," Gabriella replied, "I will."

"One more kiss?" He bent his face toward hers, but remained far enough away so that she would have to finish the entrance to the kiss.

"Bye Troy," She pressed one more kiss on his cheek.

"See you in four days," He smiled and watched her walk away to pass through security

* * *

When it was cleared, Gabriella pulled out her phone to dial the number of her friend Laura, "Hey Laura."

"Hey," Her blonde friend replied, "Did you just land?"

"Yeah, I'll be out in ten minutes," She stood up to grab her bag from the overhead compartment.

"Okay, I can't wait to see you!" The friendly mother replied.

"Me either!" Gabriella responded back.

She took her time walking through the airport in New Haven, one she was fairly familiar with. After finding her luggage, she walked outside to find her friend's car. Quickly spotting her friend leaning against a black Suburban, she ran over as quickly as she possibly could to her best friend from Connecticut.

"Oh my gosh," Laura exclaimed and held her arms out for a friendly hug, "Look at you, you look fabulous!"

Gabriella smiled and laughed, "Nobody pulls off divorce and custody battles as good as me."

"How are you?" Laura asked as she pulled away from their hug.

"I'm fine," Gabriella pulled her bag to hoist up into the trunk, "Thanks for letting me stay with you, especially on such short notice."

"Don't worry about it," Laura pulled open the door to the driver's seat and slid in, as well as Gabriella, "How was your flight?"

"Long," She lent her head back against the head rest.

"I can not believe what's happening," Laura shook her head slightly, "I don't know what I'd do."

"Sometimes it's easier to just grin and bare it," Gabriella looked down at her hands.

"Oh sweetie," Laura put her hand on Gabriella's arm in comfort, "Sometimes I still pick up the phone to call and ask if you and Tom want to meet us for drinks. And I can't believe he's putting you through all this."

"I know," She closed her eyes for a brief moment, "He's completely changed."

"I'll say," Laura responded, "You've got this in the bag. Hands down."

"How's Tommy and Jim?" Gabriella questioned her friend, referring to her son and husband.

"They're good," Laura nodded, "We miss you guys though. Tommy misses his playdates with Mia."

They met at a birthing class before Mia was born, "I know, I should bring the girls back out here over the summer or something."

"Are they doing okay?" Laura asked about Gabriella's kids.

"Mia is great, she's made friends and has been as busy as ever," Gabriella smiled, "But Emma is still having a hard time dealing. It's been a more difficult transition for her."

"I bet it-" Laura was cut off by the sound of Gabriella's phone ringing.

Picking up her phone to look at the screen, "Shoot," she slid her finger across the screen to unlock the phone and answer, "I'm so sorry I forgot to call."

Troy laughed on the other end, "It's fine, that's what I figured. I have to leave for basketball practice soon, so I was just going to leave you a message if you didn't answer."

"We just pulled up to Laura's house, so I'm all safe and sound," She assured him and smiled.

"Good," Troy responded, "I have to go but have some fun with your friends. Don't let this trip be entirely bad, okay?"

"Of course," Gabriella held the phone between her shoulder, "I'll call you before I go to bed."

"I love you," Troy said as he grabbed his bag and keys.

"Me too," She responded and hung up the phone as she dragged her bag up the familiar steps of her friend's house.

"Was that you Mom or your kids?" Laura questioned as she walked with Gabriella to the guest room.

"Neither," Gabriella hadn't told anyone in Connecticut that she had a new boyfriend.

Laura had a look of confusion on her face as she sat down on the guest bed in her house, "Who was it then?"

Gabriella smirked as she dug through her suitcase, looking for her toiletry bag to freshen up, "My new boyfriend."

Laura's mouth dropped as she turned around to gage her reaction, "You're kidding!"

Gabriella shook her head, "Nope."

"Oh my gosh," Laura bounced on the bed a little, "What's his name? Who is he? How did you two meet?"

"His name is Troy," Gabriella sat down next to her friend, "He was my high school sweetheart and we ran into each other when I was registering Emma for school. He's an English teacher."

"Oh my gosh!" Laura squealed.

"Do you have any other comments other than 'oh my gosh'?" Gabriella jokingly questioned.

"Yeah," Laura jumped back in to the conversation, "I can't believe you are already dating, much less that you have a boyfriend."

"Laur," Gabriella collapsed back against the bed, "It happened so fast. We moved, two days later I ran into him, and a week later we went on a date and then we started dating."

"Honestly," Laura spoke up, "I didn't think you'd even consider dating for a year, at the least. Probably much longer than that."

"I didn't think I'd consider dating either but it's just," She paused trying to explain how she felt, "It's just Troy. God, in high school, I don't even know how to explain it. We were so in love it's not even funny."

"Ooh, interesting," Laura began to pry, "So how long have you been dating now?"

"Almost three months," It was nearing the end of January now, three weeks since she'd gotten her letter from Tom.

"Okay," Laura paused, "And how serious is it?"

"Very," Gabriella responded, "He really wanted to date me. He always said he'd wait until I was ready and knew that there was some sort of sore spot that was blocking me from jumping in to a relationship."

"That's good," Laura pondered, "What's his story?"

"Troy went to college in California, played D1 basketball, got into the whole partying scene, found a girl into the whole partying scene, got a girl pregnant, graduated with an English degree, had said kid, girlfriend left, jump forward a few years and here we are," Gabriella explained without stopping, "He wants exactly what I want, someone to come home to at the end of the day, eat dinner with and maybe watch a few movies, and then fall asleep together."

"What do the girls think of him?"

"Mia loves him. She's almost always home when he comes over to watch a movie and they interact really well," Gabriella stopped for a few seconds, "And Emma, I don't think she likes the idea of me dating in general. She likes Troy but can't open up around him."

"I see," Laura nodded her head, "It'll take a while. Do you have any pictures?"

Gabriella jumped up and pulled out her iPhone to show Laura the picture of them she'd had Mia take a week ago when they went to one of Troy's basketball games.

"Oh my gosh, he's cute," Laura zoomed in on the picture, "Really cute."

"Thank you," Gabriella laughed.

"Well, I'll let you freshen up," Laura stood from the bed, "But don't think this is over. I was thinking cocktails at Frankie's at eight?"

"Sounds good, I'll be ready," Gabriella waited for her friend to exit the bedroom before checking her phone for messages and missed calls. One was from her boss and the other was from her lawyer, who wanted her to call when she could.

Holding the phone up to her ear, she let the phone ring until someone answered, "Jane, hi this is Gabriella."

"Oh, Gabriella thanks for calling me back," Jane responded.

"Thank you so much for doing this on such short notice," Jane was her lawyer she'd had during the divorce who specialized in divorce and child custody cases.

"No problem," Jane spoke through her phone, "I wanted to make this quick and just wanted to confirm the times with you."

"Okay," Gabriella listened as Jane went on and explained the details of what the meeting with Tom would be like tomorrow. That was why she flew out to Connecticut, because Tom demanded the meeting be in their homestate. She didn't want to risk a bad reputation in case he demanded they took the case to court.

* * *

"Table for two?" The hostess questioned as Gabriella and Laura entered the bar.

"Yes please," Laura responded and the two girls followed the hostess to their table.

They waited for their waiter and ordered martini's along with a few tapa's from the appetizer menu for them to nibble on.

"I must admit," Laura commented to her across the table in the dim lighting, "I've seen Tom around town a few times."

"Really?" Gabriella questioned, she assumed he'd moved to New York after the divorce.

"And," Laura paused for a little dramatic effect, "He took your house off the market."

"You're kidding," Gabriella exclaimed, "Why the hell would he do that? I assumed he was living it up in New York by now."

"I know, me too," Laura had all the inside information on the divorce, she'd been the first one Gabriella went to.

"Any girls?" Gabriella pondered.

"No girls," She responded, "I've been asking around too, just to make sure."

"Interesting," Gabriella took a long sip from her martini.

"I know," Laura nodded her head and looked around the bar, observing the different types of people there. A few younger girls trying to act cool, a group most likely that just got done working, and in the back a few older men, "Wait a second."

"What?" Gabriella lifted a hand to her face, thinking that something was on it.

"You're fine Gabi," Laura laughed, "Don't look too obvious, but Tom is sitting behind you. Four tables back with three men."

"Oh shit," Gabriella dropped her head down in to her hands, "Do you think he saw us walk in?"

"No, I think he'd be looking back toward us once in a while if he was," Laura explained and kept her eyes trained to the tables behind them.

Soon after their discovery, Tom stood from them table and shook hands with the men, before walking toward the door.

As he was on his way, they tried to make themselves invisible but sitting in a booth at a bar wasn't exactly the right position from them to be in, "Laura?"

Laura tilted her head and shot Gabriella an apologetic smile, "Tom, nice to see you."

"You too," His eyes adverted to Gabriella, "You to Gab."

Gabriella put on a fake smile and replied, "I wish I could say the same."

Tom pretended to ignore her sarcastic comment, "Mind if I join you two for a while?"

"Actually," Laura started to deny before Gabriella cut her off.

"No, we don't," Gabriella said and watched him make a move to sit next to her, "Excuse me, waiter, can we get a beer over here for this gentleman?"

"No problem ma'am," The waiter said, "Separate tab?"

"No, just put it on the same one," Gabriella waited for the waiter to walk away, "I hope you don't mind paying for our drinks."

Tom faked a smile to remain civil at the bar in their small town, "Of course not."

Laura pursed her lips in a smirk at Gabriella's comments, "Who were you here with?"

"Potential lawyers we're interviewing," Tom responded as the waiter brought him a fresh beer.

"Seems like the appropriate place to bring them," She sarcastically responded, "Mind as well begin to train them right away."

"Still a little bitter I see," Tom glared at her.

"Oh, don't think you can come over here and just sit down and strike up friendly conversation," Gabriella was on a role with the comments tonight.

"I'm sorry," Tom replied, "Maybe you should start over."

"I'm sorry," Gabriella replied mockingly, "Maybe you should stay away from my kids."

Tom rolled his eyes, "Maybe if you weren't so stubborn you wouldn't be here."

"Oh please," Gabriella rolled her eyes back at him, "I'm the stubborn one? You're the one who can't seem to get enough from me."

"If you would just sign a few papers…"

"I will not sign a few papers to give you custody of my children, Tom!" She exclaimed, "You are such a jackass."

Tom smirked back at her, "You know you love me."

"Believe me, I know I did," Gabriella once again downed some of her drink, "But you will always be a cheater. Cheaters never win."

"We'll see about that," Tom copied her actions and took a large drink of his beer, "Darling, you'll give in to me. Always have, always will."

"Do not call me that," She threatened, "I hate you."

"Feeling's mutual," He smirked back to irk her on, "Babe."

"You can go now," She waved her hand to shoo him away, "Bye."

"Gladly," He stood abruptly from his spot and threw some money on the table, "That's for whatever you two decide to order. Maybe you should save some for, you'll need it after our meeting."

Not wanting him to walk away with the last word, she spoke once more before he left, "A little tip, don't walk to someone's house and show up drunk at their doorstep."

Tom walked away as Gabriella slumped down in her chair and looked at Laura from across the table. She shook her head with a smirk on her face, "You are good, my friend. Very good."

"It doesn't matter if I don't win tomorrow," She sadly smiled across the table, showing her true feelings for the first time.

"Honey," Laura assured, "He doesn't have anything on you. You are going to win. Confidence is key."

"I hate him so much," She pressed her forehead into her hands.

* * *

Making sure to be ready for her meeting at noon, Gabriella glanced at the mirror one last time to look at her pencil skirt and flowy top she planned on wearing to Tom's office. She walked down the stairs and Laura looked up from the magazine she was reading on the couch, "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Gabriella sighed and walked to grab her shoes by the door.

"You'll be fine Gabs," Laura assured and Gabriella nodded with fake confidence.

After they arrived and Laura drove away, Gabriella waited in the lobby for her lawyer Jane to show up. When she did, they shook hands and went over some final preparations before entering Tom's office.

Jane took one final glance at Gabriella before she twisted the doorknob, "I'm going to do everything I can to get him to drop custody. I promise."

Gabriella smiled softly, "Thank you, so much."

"It's my job," Jane smiled back, "I hate to see people like you in this position."

They entered what would end up being a very unproductive meeting with Tom, who would not back down on anything. He was stubborn as hell and persisted through the whole two hours without any change in the negotiation.

"Are we going to call it a wrap for the day?" Jane asked as she ran her hands through her hair in frustration.

"Sure," Tom also sighed, thinking that Gabriella at some point would give in a little bit, "We'll meet back up tomorrow, same time."

"Sounds good," Jane stuck her hand out for him to shake.

"Wait for just a second Gabriella," Tom said to her before she exited the room, "Why don't you come down to my office for a few minutes."

"No," She demanded and made a move to walk out of the conference room.

"Gabriella, wait," He stopped the door from opening, "It will only take a few seconds."

"Fine," She said stubbornly, "Five minutes tops."

"Great, we can start on our way there," He motioned for her to follow him down the hall.

"I was actually wondering if you would maybe go out and eat dinner with me tonight," Me mentioned rather than asking.

"Why?" She demanded stubbornly.

"Because, I've been a real dick to you and wanted to treat you to a nice dinner," He sighed and looked at her with a fake pleading face.

"Fine," Gabriella walked toward the door, "Pick me up at seven. No later, no earlier."

"Okay," He nodded, "See you then. Oh, and look nice."

"Fine," She replied emotionlessly and left the room without a goodbye.

* * *

Gabriella didn't tell Laura about going out to dinner with Tom, she didn't tell anyone. She was just frustrated he asked her to go out in the first place, it was definitely something she'd have to vent to Troy about later tonight after she got home.

Laura was going out with her husband that night and her son was with his grandparent's, so she was the only one left in the house. She'd wore the dress that she brought with her, it was a mid-thigh length, strapless black dress that she wore with leggings, knee-high boots, and a long boyfriend cardigan in the chilly winter weather.

When Tom rang the doorbell, she made no rush to answer the door and took a detour to grab her purse and coat on the way.

"Are you ready to leave?" Tom asked her when she opened the door.

Sulking, she replied, "I guess."

"Way to be in the spirit," Tom sarcastically replied back.

"As always," Gabriella didn't often let this side of her come out, but when it did no one wanted to be around her.

"Our chariot awaits," He gestured toward his, what was once her, car.

"I see you haven't sold all of my possessions," She mentioned as she slid in the car and he shut the door for her.

"Of course not love," Tom replied.

"Okay, let's get this clear," She layed down the law, "You can not call me by pet names or nick names. No Gab, Gabi, Brie, whatever. Only Gabriella, got it?"

"Sure," He shrugged cockily and continued to drive eastward.

"Where are we going?" She questioned as she glanced down at her iPhone to reply to a text message.

_Whats up?_

Troy had texted her.

"You'll see," Tom responded to her question, "Who are you texting?"

"Well, I believe you referred to him as the man I picked off the street. Fuck buddy maybe?" Gabriella glared in his direction.

"Of course," Tom nodded, "How could I forget about your little servant?"

"You know what? Troy does not have any part in our relationship and you can leave him out of this," She scolded, "You have no right to judge him."

"Is he a boyfriend?" Tom questioned as they pulled into a sea food restaurant that overlooked the ocean.

"Yes, he is actually," She waited for him to open her door before she said anything else, "Remember that guy from high school I was oh so in love with? That's him."

Tom smirked, "Of course it is."

"He's a much better boyfriend than you ever were a husband," Gabriella held up her wrist that held her bracelet, "He actually remembered to buy me a Christmas present."

"I told you I was busy," Tom said as he held open the door to the restaurant.

"Yeah, I'll bet you were busy," Gabriella said in a quiet voice so that she wouldn't disturb the other diners, "Sneaking behind my back, fucking other women."

"Hi, I have a reservation under Schwartz for two," Tom said to the hostess, who grabbed menus and lead them to their table.

While they waited for their waiter, Tom attempted to talk to her again, "How are the girls?"

"Better than ever," She lied to him, mostly to make them seem like they were better off without him.

"Emma's still dancing?" Tom questioned her.

"Wow, I'm surprised you remember her name," Gabriella shook her head, "And no she's never danced. Gymnastics."

"Right," Tom nodded his head, "Gymnastics. Got it."

Gabriella rolled her eyes in an over exaggerated way, "You're so stupid."

"Why thank you," Two could play the game was the way Tom saw it, "Are you enjoying Connecticut."

"Oh yeah," She nodded her head, "All the people feeling sorry for me because you treated me like shit really makes me feel good."

"Good," He nodded, "Order anything you want, it's on me."

"It better be," Her eyes glance over the menu and she couldn't help but think that this could have been normal for her a few short months ago.

She decided on lobster, not that the restaurant really served anything other than lobster or crab. Their bickering continued on for most of the dinner.

When the time came, Tom payed the bill and stood to leave the table, "What do you think about taking a walk on the beach before we leave?"

"It's freezing," was all she said in response.

"Perfect," Tom nodded his head toward the back door, which lead to a patio on the beach. Gabriella followed his lead, not really having another option.

They didn't actually end up taking a walk, rather just standing against the railing outside, "Do you remember our first date?"

"Yeah, I do," That was the first civil response he'd gotten from her all night, "It was at that restaurant on the mountains in New Hampshire."

"Mmhmm," Tom stared out at the ocean for a few moments before turning his head toward Gabriella.

He continued to stare at her and she felt her throat tighten slightly when he didn't say anything else.

"You know," Tom broke the silence, "I made a really big mistake divorcing you."

Gabriella stood there in shock, not knowing what to do.

"Gabriella," He said and brought his hand to her chin to turn her face toward him. She didn't know what to do when he brought his face and body closer to hers. Suddenly, he changed her perspective once again by pressing a kiss to her lips as she stood there completely shocked at his revelation.

* * *

**Good? Bad? Like it? Dislike it? Let me know by sending me a review! I really, really love my reviews and reviewers!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I hope you all understand why she's struggling with the decision she has to make.**

**Disclaimer: Plot's mine, nothing else**

* * *

Gabriella stood in her shoes, boots rather, and didn't respond when she felt the familiar lips of her ex-husband press up against her own. She didn't return the gesture and she didn't push him away, she just stood there frozen, like a popsicle.

Tom pulled away after about three seconds and looked at her with a smirking face. He turned around and gestured toward the door, "Maybe we should leave now."

It took her a few seconds to wrap her brain around what had just happened and respond, "Uh, oh, yeah. We should, um, leave."

Gabriella waited a few seconds to let him get a few feet ahead of her before she started walking. Her hands were shaking and she felt herself taking a few deep breaths to stable herself. This man was the most confusing man on the planet.

She didn't even take the time to think about how she felt about the kiss before she was panicking.

Silence filtered the car the whole ride back to Laura's house. Tom was radiating with his response to what happened. Time seemed to evolve faster than usual and before Tom had even stopped the car, she unbuckled her seat belt and tried to dodge out of the car as fast as possible.

It would have worked. She would have gotten inside Laura's house without hearing his voice, if she hadn't left her damn purse in his car. Actually, she didn't really care much about her purse with the exception that it had her cell phone, which she'd need to call Troy, and her ID, which she'd need to get back home in a few days.

"Here," He held out her purse to her as she typed in the numbers on the garage door opener.

She proceeded with her actions after grasping her purse, trying to ignore her ex-husband as much as possible. When the garage door raised to a height she could easily fit under, she made her move, only to be caught by Tom again.

"Hey," His smooth voice called as he grabbed her shoulder before she could walk away from him, "Don't think you can get away from me that fast."

Before facing him she took a deep breath and closed her eyes to prepare herself, "Tom please, let me go inside and think everything through."

"What's there to think about Gabi?" He questioned, "You love me. I love you. We can make this work again."

"But it's not that simple Tom," She could feel him attempting to get her to face him. All she could think about was Tom's hands roaming some girl's body and sharing the most intimate part of life with someone else.

"It can be simple if you want it to be," Tom smooth talked to her.

"I have a boyfriend," She whimpered as he finally spun her around, "And I just moved our girls across the country."

"So what? Dump the boyfriend," Tom spoke seriously to her and entwined his fingers in hers, "Move back. I've got the house, all your stuff, a lot of the girl's stuff. All your friends are here, just think we can forget the last few months."

As he listed off the pro's, Gabriella couldn't help but think about what Connecticut didn't have. Mostly, it didn't have Troy. And neither did a life with Tom, "You don't understand though Tom, you cheated on me. I don't think I could ever trust you again."

"Gabi," he pleaded, "We're meant to be together. We can have our old life back. Hell, we can drop the custody case and never have to think about it again."

"Please, give me some time to think this through," Gabriella tried to walk away, it wasn't easy. This was the man that she had worked so desperately to get over.

"Okay," He agreed, knowing that this wasn't going to lead anywhere, "How about I pick you up tomorrow? We can grab a late breakfast before we go and work out the case."

"I-I don't know," She was wary of the idea, knowing that he was a persuasive man.

"Look," He said, "I have some things over at the house I thought you might want. Come over and you can grab some stuff. I don't mind."

Gabriella sighed, knowing that she was going to have to see him at some point tomorrow, "Fine."

"Okay then, I'll come around ten. That'll give us plenty of time," He smiled a cheeky smile at her, "Bye Gabi, I love you." Tom bent down to give her another kiss, but this time she anticipated the move and made time to move her head so that he only caught her cheek.

Gabriella didn't respond, instead she walked into her friend's house and locked the door behind her. She sighed and let her back slide down the door until her butt hit the ground. Her breathing picked up to a hiccup until she let a tear slide down her cheek, "Oh my God."

Gabriella sat on the floor, she wasn't sure how long, until her breathing steadied again and she felt strong enough to pick herself up. Slowly she made her way through her friend's house until she reached her bedroom. She threw her purse on the bed and locked the door. Before fully collapsing onto the bed, she desperately tugged at her clothing for removal in case she fell asleep before she had the opportunity to change.

She had two options. She could call Troy and get it over with, or she could wait and not tell him what happened until she got home. If she went home. Obviously she had to at one point but…

Deciding it was better not to hide things, Gabriella decided to get it over with. Picking up the phone, she let it ring in her ear, once, twice, three times, "Hello?"

"Troy?" Her voice still trembled from the events of the evening.

"Brie," Gabriella could almost hear the smile on his face, "How'd everything go?"

"Not very good," She had to take a moment to sniffle before continuing, "We got nowhere. How was practice?"

"I'm sorry Brie," He apologized, even though there wasn't anything he could really do about it, "And it was fine."

"That's good," She sat wringing her hands together, trying to decide how to tell him about what had actually happened that evening, "I have to tell you something though, and really, I'm so sorry."

"Okay," The somewhat of a decent conversation read bad to him, "Shoot."

"I don't know why, but I went to dinner with Tom tonight," She started out explaining, "And we were really having a shitty time."

"Keep going," He said when she paused.

"We sort of went outside and he said that he made a mistake," Gabriella paused again, "Then he sort of kissed me."

"Brie," Troy was sort of astounded with her confession, but in the opposite way she anticipated. He wasn't necessarily angry, "It's not your fault he kissed you."

"I know, but I feel real shitty about it," Her tears returned, "I just sat there Troy. I let him kiss me. I didn't push him away or anything."

"Shh," Troy didn't want to make such a big deal about this while she seemed so fragile, "I'm not mad. Take a deep breath and relax for a second."

"It's just that," She didn't know how to explain how she was feeling, "He wants me back. He wants me to move back to Connecticut and continue where we left off."

Troy was silent, Gabriella wouldn't have been so upset about this if she didn't think it was actually a possibility. "If that's what he wants, what do you want?"

Gabriella's voice hitched, "I don't know Troy."

"I can't make this decision for you Gabriella," Troy explained, "He's your husband, you have history together. Fifteen years of history. You loved him. I want you to understand that he broke you though. Just because he's back, doesn't fix everything that's happened."

There it was again, that picture of Tom's hands on some other girl's body.

"I know it doesn't. I love you Troy," She didn't want him to think that she would automatically jump back to life with Tom, "And I trust you. I know that you would never do anything to hurt me."

"I love you too Brie," Troy took a deep breath himself, "And I really don't think it's worth it to even consider anything with Tom."

"I don't want anything to happen to our relationship either," Gabriella desperately wanted Troy to know that she wasn't giving up on them.

"Than why are you so upset about this?" Troy knew that if she wasn't considering it, she would have joked about something like this happening.

"I don't know," Gabriella whimpered.

"I think you need to figure that out," Troy explained and he could tell by her breathing that she was upset. She didn't respond.

"You'll still meet me at the airport, right?" Gabriella questioned him about her arrival in two days.

"Sure," Troy answered, "I love you. So much Gabriella, just keep that in your mind."

"I will," She sniffled, "I love you too. And I'll see you soon."

"I'll see you on Wednesday," He prepared himself to hang up the phone, "Goodnight."

"'Night," She replied and for a split second, they both waited for the other to hang up until they did at the same time.

Gabriella dropped her phone on the bed next to her. She had options, one she favored over the other. The first, she could finish up the custody battle and never see Tom again. The second, they could throw the whole thing out the window and never worry about it ever again.

With Troy, she knew they could have a stable life. They could date a few more years, get married, and he'd make her happy. He loved her.

With Tom, she wasn't sure. If she ever did get back with him, there would always be that thought in the back of her mind that he was out with some girl, cheating on her, whenever he was gone. It didn't matter what time or where, that thought would always be there. There was nothing he could do to change the past. Then again, he was her past. They could start all over, Emma would be happy back in Connecticut and she wouldn't have to explain to Mia why everything had happened. They could be a family again.

* * *

Gabriella stood outside her old house, Tom by her side with his hand on her lower back. For a second she had a flashback to the first time they ever visited the house. They'd stood in almost the exact same position, in the exact same spot. However, they'd been newly married and Gabriella had recently found out she was pregnant.

"Home sweet home," Tom whispered in her ear. She was uncomfortable with the way he was acting that nothing had ever happened between them.

Gabriella faked a smile. There was once a time where she loved him and would melt in his arms. Now that she had something to compare it to, his arms didn't really feel the same.

They walked in, Gabriella a distance behind Tom, trying to observe what had changed. It was obvious he hadn't been there recently. Folded boxes were left in the corner of the mud room, exactly where she left them after packing up the few things she had been able to keep during the divorce.

Walking through the house brought her many different emotions. There was the very faint stain on the carpet where Emma had thrown up for the first time and the family pictures hanging on the wall. A few forgotten childhood toys layed in a box and Gabriella bent over it to pick up Mia's blankie.

"Gabi," Tom snapped his finger, "Did you hear me?"

"What?" She spun around to see Tom gesturing to go down the hall.

"I said that you can grab anything that you want," Tom replied.

Gabriella looked at the various articles that she had wanted during the divorce. Some expensive vases, furniture, silverwear, china, jewelry, nothing that was really important, "Okay."

When she saw Tom standing in the hallway, all she could think about was him walking away from her when she begged him to stop. The bedroom was still astrew of clothes and other possessions. Everything she thought she wanted, she really didn't. Maybe a few pictures of Emma and Mia when they were little and their scrapbooks, but that was it. Nothing seemed all that important anymore.

It was the house. The house was what made everything special. But the house wasn't a home anymore. It was abandoned, empty. Nothing of importance was left anymore now that it wasn't occupied.

"Is that all you want?" He questioned with an odd expression on his face.

Gabriella nodded in response, "Yeah, it is."

"Okay," Tom smiled at her, "Should we go grab breakfast?"

Once again, she nodded, a little upset about returning, "Where have you been living?"

"Mostly in my apartment in New York," Tom replied nonchalantly.

"Oh," Any last hope she had, left at that. There was still a chance he was sleeping around. He hadn't even been home to see all that was left behind.

* * *

Surprisingly, the second meeting went well. Somehow, Tom had given full custody rights to Gabriella, probably because she was leading him on.

She hadn't agreed to seeing him again that night, but yet again they were still signing papers to make everything official.

When everything was signed, Tom invited her back to his office. He said he had a short meeting but that she could wait and they could talk. It was only supposed to take a half hour. Tom said she could feel free to use the computer to check her emails or browse the internet if she wanted.

Gabriella knew she shouldn't have, but she did anyway. Reading his emails probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he'd left it wide open for her to see. Browsing through, she saw various emails about contracts and other work related items. However, there was one name that popped up various times. A girl named Lucy. If she didn't know any better, she wouldn't have thought anything mysterious about it.

However, all her emails were titled the same. It was some sort of attempt to make it look like they were exchanging information for work but when you clicked on it, all it was, was plans for dates in New York. Rendezvous to fancy hotels and dinner at extravagant restaurants. Even though they weren't together and she hadn't considered it all that much, she felt her heart crush a little.

Again, his hands roaming some other girl's body.

Instead of waiting to face him, the only reason she considered it was so that she could slap him, she left. She didn't leave a note or anything. She left with the intentions of never seeing him ever again.

* * *

After arriving from her few stressful days in Connecticut, Gabriella pulled out her phone to turn on after a long plane ride to call Troy. Her heart, if possible, was even more broken than it was before.

She went through the motions her last day in Connecticut. She showed her happiness about winning the case and pushed through, trying to act as though nothing happened. Her robotic actions lead her through the airport and to find her suitcase.

Troy spotted her first and slowly made his way over. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little hurt about the fact that she even considered giving Tom a second chance. As soon as she wrapped her arms around him and he gave her a squeeze, she broke.

Gabriella cried in his arms and he rubbed her back in comforting circles. He wanted to say, "I told ya so," but refrained from doing so.

* * *

**As always reviews are always appreciated.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

The tears didn't stop. They didn't stop when Troy hugged her, they didn't stop when he held her hand on the way to the car, they didn't stop when they exited the parking, and they certainly didn't stop when Troy decided to take a detour on the way to pick up Emma and Mia and drop them off at her house.

He didn't even try to disguise the fact that they weren't going to her mother's house. Troy drove in the opposite direction, for miles and miles. Her tears flowed and flowed. They ended up in a parking lot at the bottom of a mountain. Gabriella looked up at it and then looked at Troy. Her throat was too sore from crying to actually speak, but Troy understood anyway.

"We're going up and we're not coming down until you stop crying and tell me what happened," He said, grabbing a few waterbottles and shoving them in a backpack as well as the tennis shoes he'd stolen from her house with the key he gave her to watch the house while she was gone.

Originally his plan was for them to talk about what happened, but that obviously wasn't going to happen today. Gabriella changed from her sandals to the tennis shoes as well as putting on the sweatshirt he offered her. He had two fleece jackets in case they stayed for the sunset and a blanket for them to sit on.

Troy lead the way up a very familiar path. When Alex was young they climbed the mountain when they weren't busy on weekends. They still managed to occasionally climb the steep hill.

Gabriella stayed a few feet behind him for a while. She realized that avoiding him wouldn't do them any good, so she picked up her pace for a few seconds until she was close enough to grab his hand. She sniffled slightly and Troy looked back at her, offering a smile, "Are you doing okay?"

She nodded her head and let him lead her up the mountain. The twisted between trees in the trail and dodged squirrels and chipmunks. Occasionally they'd pass a rare human being but not many because there weren't many people in Albuquerque who liked to climb mountains in the winter.

They didn't climb to the top, instead finding a small overlook that they could sit on and still get a good view of the city. Troy spread the blank over the edge of the short cliff that was maybe ten feet above the winding path below them. Gabriella sat down and crossed her legs and took a sip from her waterbottle. Troy took out a sandwich and offered it to her, which she accepted and began to unwrap the saranwrap.

Troy sat next to her in silence, she knew to start talking when she was ready so there was no use for words. He nibbled around the edge of his own sandwich, eating all the crust first. It was his favorite part.

"He's the biggest asshole I've ever meet," Gabriella said in between bites.

"I know," Troy said, staring out at the lights of the city.

"I don't know what I was thinking," Gabriella took a deep breath, "We argued all day, in the car, at the restaurant, the night before when we saw him at the bar. He took me outside and he kissed me. I feel so terrible because I let him. It just felt so familiar."

Gabriella sat wringing her hands together. She found Troy hard to read, it looked like he wasn't even paying attention, just staring out at the view. That was until he turned his head, confused that she stopped there.

"That's it?" Troy asked, not believing that she was telling him everything.

"No," she continued, "I tried to get back in the house without talking to him but I left my purse in his car and I don't know how it happened but he convinced to me to get breakfast with him and go to our old house, he took it off the market-"

"Gabriella," Troy attempted to seize her talking, "Did you really think he changed?"

"I-" It took her a moment to really think her answer through, "No, not really."

"Then why did you go along with everything?"

"Because I thought that," It pained her to think about how she felt after Tom had kissed her, "Maybe I'd feel less like I wasted fifteen years of my life."

"Brie, a broken relationship does not mean that you wasted fifteen years of your life," Troy understood that it was a long time she had been emotionally connected to this man but she really needed to move on.

"I did though, everything was a lie about that relationship. Even when he brought me home and said I could have whatever I wanted then told me we could start over he had plans to go sleep with some girl in a million dollar hotel room that night!" Her tears started again, more out of frustration than hurt.

"So don't you think that now is the best time to completely move on and drop him from your life?" He tried not to let his jealousy get the best of him but his girlfriend had kissed her ex-husband.

"It is," Her lip quivered.

"Brie," Troy soothed, moving closer so that their knees touched, "I know it's hard but you've got me now. Sure I'm not your husband or the father of your children but we have history too. Don't you remember how in love we were? And how about how hard I'm falling for you again?"

"Why?" Gabriella questioned him.

"Why what?" Troy said with confusion.

"Why are you falling for me again and putting up with all this shit when it's clear that I'm still hung up over my ex-husband?"

"Because I love you," Troy looked her in the eyes, "If it were anyone else, I wouldn't put up with it. But I love you and I don't want you to dig yourself in a hole over a guy who cheated on you. You did absolutely nothing wrong and you don't deserve all this shit."

"I'm not trying to be like this," She gestured to the tears on her face and all the conversations they'd had about her previous life, "I feel bad about being such a terrible girlfriend."

"You aren't a terrible girlfriend," Troy assured, "You're just having a difficult time picking up a new lifestyle. We've had so many fantastic dates and nights together that it doesn't matter if some guy kisses you."

"I know but," Gabriella was cut off again.

"No buts Gabriella," Troy's patience was beginning to wear off, "We have something great going and I think that in the future it'll all be worth everything that's going on right now. I just don't see why you'd let some guy who cheated on you back in your life."

"I don't either," She sniffed.

Troy sighed, "Well I think you're going to have to figure it out in order for this to work. I can't tell your heart what to do."

"Troy," She whispered, "I love you."

"I know you do Brie," His hand squeezed her thigh, "But you still love him too."

* * *

"Mommy!" Mia bellowed when she heard Troy and Gabriella enter the house.

"Mia!" Gabriella exclaimed equally as excited and opened her arms as wide as possible for Mia to jump into, "I missed you so much sweetie."

"I missed you too Mommy," Mia kissed her on the cheek and Troy went in to great Maria.

"Did you have a good time with Grandma?" Gabriella questioned her petite daughter.

"Mmhmm," Mia nodded.

"Where's Emma?" Gabriella looked around her house, noticing an absense.

"In her room," Mia pointed up the stairs.

Gabriella nodded and kissed Mia on the head, "I'll be right back down."

* * *

"How's she doing?" Maria asked, referring to her only daughter.

"She's been better," Troy suggested, glancing around to make sure Mia wasn't in hearing distance.

Maria nodded, "She told me on the phone."

"Everything?" Troy wanted to make sure before they discussed it and something awkward happened.

"Everything," Maria confirmed, "Let me say, you are one hell of a good man for putting up with her."

"He just needs to leave them alone so they can rebuild their lives," Troy shook his head, "How's Emma been?"

Maria sighed, "She's upset. She thinks she's never going to see Tom again and is mad that Gabriella wouldn't bring her with, even though she won't admit it. She's homesick I think."

"I don't blame her," Troy nodded in understanding. It really was a difficult transition.

"Listen," Maria said, "I've got to get home to make dinner for the hubby. Do you mind waiting around for Gabriella and telling her that? Maybe keep Mia entertained for a while?"

"It's no problem Maria," Troy stood from his spot on a bar stool and walked with Maria to the door, "I'm sure Gabriella would like me to thank you for watching them, she really appreciates it."

Maria stretched up to give Troy a quick hug before exiting the house, "Tell her it was fine and I love spending time with my grand babies."

"No problem," Troy opened the door for her, "See you later Maria."

"By Troy," She gave a quick wave and Troy closed the front door.

"Mia!" He shouted, knowing she was somewhere on the first floor. He waited for her response.

"What?" She stuck her head out from the doorway leading to the living room.

Troy smirked at her, "Wanna help make dinner?"

"Really?" Mia began to get excited, "You'll let me help?"

"Sure," He nudged his head toward the kitchen, "Tacos."

* * *

"Em," Gabriella knocked on the closed door of her teenage daughter, "Can I come in?"

"Sure," She responded, which Gabriella could barely hear.

Gabriella sighed, seeing her daughter curled up under her sheets reading _Paper Towns _by John Green, her go to book when she was feeling depressed. Gabriella pulled back the covers and slid in next to her daughter, wrapping her arm around her shoulders and kissing the side of her head, "What's up beautiful?"

"You won?" Emma doubled checked for some reason.

"Yeah," Gabriella explained, "He just gave up on the second day."

"And that's it?"

"Yep," Gabriella responded.

"I'm never going to see him again?" Her eyes were wide, Gabriella recognized the look that she was upset.

"Emma," Gabriella rubbed her shoulders.

The tears trickled down her face and Gabriella tried to pull her closer, "Couldn't you at least have brought me with, so I could say goodbye?"

"Sweetie," Gabriella soothed, "It's not that easy."

"That's not fair," She sniffed, "You got to see him. You got to say goodbye."

Gabriella sighed, "Em, I don't want you to get as heart broken as I am."

"I'm hurt too Mom," Emma pulled away, "It's not just you."

"Trust me, I know that," Gabriella tried to embrace her, "But I don't want to expose you to your father right now. He's not in a very good place."

"I never," She wiped at her eyes as she choked on her words, "I never got to say goodbye. He already left when I got home."

"I'm trying to protect you though," Gabriella explained and grabbed Emma's hand, "I want you to have a father in your life, I really do, I grew up without my dad and I'd never want you and Mia to be in the same situation but there's more to it right now."

"Why won't you just tell me what happened?" Emma was well aware from what her grandparents had said that something major had happened while her mom was in Connecticut, "I'm old enough, I can handle it."

"Emma," Gabriella warned, feeling herself begin to tear up, "I know you want some sort of closure but I can't let you see him right now because he has no conscience. He doesn't care who he is hurting, even if it's his family."

"I just want to tell him I love him," Emma mumbled.

Gabriella pulled her tighter to her body, "I know baby, I know."

* * *

Troy and Mia were well into eating their dinner before Gabriella popped up downstairs, "Hey, smells good."

"Help yourself," Troy gestured to the taco shells and meat as well as the fresh vegetable toppings, "How'd it go up there."

"Not too good," Gabriella took two plates, making sure to fix Emma's the way she liked it, "Thanks for cooking though."

"Thank Mia," Troy nodded his head to the little girl next to him, "She tore the lettuce, chopped the tomato's, under my supervision of course, and shaped the shells."

"Well, thank you both then," Gabriella winked at Mia who seemed awfully proud of herself for helping with dinner, "I'm going to run this up to Emma, she needs a little alone time right now."

Troy nodded and Gabriella made her way to drop off Emma's food. Mia continued giving Troy a play-by-play of everything she had done with her grandparent's while Gabriella was away.

When she returned, she sat back down with Troy and Mia to finish dinner until the clock rounded eight thirty. Troy rinsed off his plate before looking at Gabriella, "I should probably go now, make it home to see Alex and finish correcting a few papers for tomorrow."

"Okay," Gabriella nodded, glad that he didn't seem to be in that bad of a mood after all that had happened, "I'll walk you out."

Troy slid his shoes back out before holding his arms out for a hug. Gabriella smiled and let his arms envelope her, "I love you."

Troy kissed the top of her head, "I love you too, just figure everything out, okay?"

"I will," Gabriella nodded, "I promise. You'll call me tomorrow, right?"

"Of course," Troy released her, cupping her face with his hands. He tilted his head to the left and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, "See you later."

"Bye Troy," Gabriella watched until he got in his car before closing and locking the door.

She finished loading the dishwasher before making sure Mia was tucked in to bed and Emma was doing okay before heading into her own room and curling under the sheets. A few minutes post curling up, she heard a knock on her bedroom door, "Mom?"

"Huh?" Gabriella responded, rolling onto her side to see who it was.

Emma stood hovering at the door, "Can I come talk to you?"

"Of course," Gabriella pulled the sheets back on the opposite side of the bed so Emma could slide in next to her.

"I'm sorry for getting mad at you earlier," Emma said after resting her head on the pillow next to her mother.

Gabriella smiled one of her gentle mother smiles, "It's fine Em, it happens every once in a while."

"I wanted you to know that I understand you have your best intentions for me," Emma explained, "But that doesn't change how I feel."

"Come here," Gabriella stretched out her arms, gesturing for Emma to curl closer to her, "I'm trying to protect you, that's all. Your father, quite honestly, is a jackass."

"That doesn't mean I don't miss him though," Emma knew that it wasn't going to happen.

"I know you're old enough for me to tell you this," Gabriella tried to look her in the eyes despite the darkness in the room, "Your dad took me to dinner while I was out East and he kissed me. For a second I thought that maybe nothing had changed, we were still living in Connecticut, dad didn't cheat on me, and we were a happy family."

"Does Troy know?" Emma questioned, not having seen him when he stayed to make dinner.

"Yeah, he does," Gabriella nodded her head in the dark, "We talked about it and I need to figure some things out but he loves me Em."

"Yeah?" Emma hadn't really been around Troy and Gabriella much, not because she didn't like him, more because she didn't want to except the fact that her mom was moving on, "Do you love him too?"

"Mhm," Gabriella responded with a smile, "He's so sweet. He likes to cuddle and hang out with his family. And when he kisses me I wonder why I ever let him go because he likes to just be close to me. When I was with dad the only time we ever kissed was to say hello or goodbye but with Troy it's like I want to do it just because I love him."

Emma smiled, she didn't really realize how much her mother liked this guy, "That's nice."

"And when your dad kissed me earlier this week," Gabriella tried to explain, "All I could think about was how many other girls he'd kissed that week. He told me he wanted me again and I believed him Emma."

"It was so enchanting to think that we could have our life back again," Gabriella continued, "We stopped arguing for a day and he said I could have whatever I wanted from the house. And let me tell you something, I went back and it seemed so empty. There was no life in it, all that was left were glass vases sitting on tables and forgotten baby toys."

"So you're saying that dad doesn't have any life left in him?" Emma questioned confused.

"Our whole old life Emma, even if we went back it wouldn't be the same," Gabriella explained, "Except for the fact that while your father was stringing me on, he was still seeing other women."

"Oh," Emma felt a little pang in her hear, "I'm sorry."

Everytime Gabriella got upset over it, "It's not your fault. I can't keep letting him control my heart."

"I don't understand why if we can have us, he'd pick the most unstable option," Emma reached out to wipe a tear from her mother's face, "I'll stop bugging you about seeing him."

"I'm glad you know what you want," Gabriella whispered, "But it's too hard for me to let you see him right now. When I know that he's changed, if that ever happens, I promise that you can see him but not right now Emma, not right now."

* * *

**A/N: WOW! Can I just say the input I got on the last chapter was AMAZING. Seriously, give yourselves all pats on the back. You really deserve it, thanks for blowing my mind.**

**Just as a reminder, I am making my move to Australia for a year very soon. I will be updating my stories over there but it's going to take me a while to adjust. I anticipate updating this hopefully two more times before the move. After that updates will be less frequent.**

**I love you all so much, thanks for reviewing.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

"How'd it go with Gabriella," Alex questioned a little confused as to why his father had taken such a long time arriving home after picking up Gabriella at the airport.

Troy shrugged and picked up a stack of essay's along with a colorful pen that he'd left sitting on the coffee table in front of their living room couch, "Could have been better."

"So this ex-husband of hers really isn't a good guy?" Alex knew vague details about Gabriella and her family's past life, husband cheated, messy divorce, custody case, but not much else.

Troy laughed, "Hell no. He strung her on when he apparently had plans to sleep with a twenty-six year old in a thousand dollar hotel room that night."

"Ouch," Alex's face scrunched up. At least his father trusted him enough to tell him this stuff.

"I'll say," Troy continued scratching out grammar mistakes on a paper that made it seem quite obvious that the student hadn't read the book and instead used spark notes as their reference, "How's that grade in geometry?"

"I brought it up to a C+," Alex mumbled, he really didn't enjoy his father bugging him about grades.

Troy sighed, "Well I guess that's better than a C-."

"Is there anyway you can get Mr. Johnston to magically raise my grade to a B?" Alex jokingly questioned about his strict teacher.

Troy chuckled, "Mr. Johnston isn't a big fan of me either."

* * *

Gabriella skipped up the steps to Troy's house on a Friday evening. He'd invited her over yesterday, saying that if she was free to drop by. It was the first time she was going to see him in person since the day she arrived back to Albuquerque.

The time apart was always difficult, with three kids between them they didn't always have much time to see each other, especially since Troy was coaching the basketball team every night with late games on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They'd text and call each other, usually when they were unwinding in bed. However, after this week in particular she was more than happy to see him.

She rang the doorbell and waited until an unfamiliar teenager opened the door and seemed to greet the wrong person, "Sam, it's about ti-" Until he noticed that it was not this Sam person he anticipated, "Oh, sorry I thought you were going to be Sam."

"It's fine," Gabriella awkwardly smoothed her wrinkle-less skirt, "Is Troy here?"

"Hey Alex," the boy turned his back to her, "There's some girl here asking for your Dad."

Through the door, Gabriella could see Alex bounding the steps and stopping half way, she gave him a half wave, he half shouted at her, "Oh, hey Gabriella. Come on in."

She took a step up the doorframe and the teenager who opened the door, closed it again. It didn't look like he was the only one she hadn't meet before, there were about four more teenagers in the living room, "Is your Dad here?"

"He went to grab some pizzas for us, should be home any minute now," Alex glanced at the clock on the television box, "Sorry, he didn't know I was having people over until today. Team bonding."

"Oh," Gabriella's lips formed the letter much like the word. She hadn't taken her heels off yet.

"You can wait for him though, he really should be here any minute," Alex explained kind of awkwardly as his friends/teammates stared at him, "Feel free to roam or whatever you wanna do. We're still waiting on a few people."

"Okay," She nodded her head and set down her bag by her feet, "Go entertain your guests."

"Cool," He nodded much like a nervous teenager, "Like I said, feel free to do whatever."

Instead of attracting attention from the group, she decided to wait by the door and look through her phone and listen to a few voicemails. She took off her heels and leant back against the wall.

Four minutes later, three text messages, and two voicemails, Troy walked in through the door juggling four pizza's with a liter of pop on the top. Gabriella giggled, "Here, let me help you."

"Thanks," Troy sighed in relief as she took off the liter of pop from his pile, "Sorry I wasn't here when you got here."

"It's fine," She followed him into the kitchen, dodging the long legs of tall teenagers lounging on the living room floor.

"I didn't know that we were hosting ten teenage boys tonight," He smiled sympathetically at her, "I understand if you don't want to hang around."

"Again, it's fine," Gabriella walked around the L-shaped counter, hugging him from the side. He returned the gesture, slinging an arm around her shoulders, squeezing, and kissing her forehead before they both let go when teenage boys suddenly swarmed the kitchen. Quickly they both escaped out of the way.

"Nothing worse than hungry teenage boys," Troy laughed.

Gabriella shook her head, "PMSing teenage girls."

Troy nodded, "You beat me." He held his arms out, gesturing for her to hug him again, "Long week, no see."

"I'll say, Mr. I have basketball practice and games every day this week," She smiled into the quick kiss he gave her, careful not to let the students in his kitchen see.

"Except," Troy held up his pointer finger, "Tonight."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows and nodded her head toward the teenagers in the kitchen.

Troy explained, "JV team, not my problem. Alex is fully responsible for keeping them entertained tonight."

"Let's see, that leaves us with the bathroom, your bedroom, and the office for privacy," Gabriella said sarcastically, "Great."

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "Who said we couldn't order take out and watch a movie in bed from my laptop?"

Gabriella raised her eyebrows again, "You'd seriously do that with all of them in the house?"

"Worst case scenario, they walk in on us sharing noodles from the same carton," Troy grabbed her hand, leading her out of the house before she could reject, "Come on, we haven't seen each other in five days."

* * *

Gabriella laughed as Troy tried to feed her noodles upside down, "Troy, my mouth, not my nose."

They were lying so that Gabriella's head rested a little above his pelvis, forming a 'T' where they met. Her arm was draped over his leg and one of his hands rested on the bottom of her ribcage, the other was failing at feeding her, "I'm trying, it's not as easy as it looks, especially since you keep laughing."

"For a former basketball player," She was certain that Troy could feel her belly laughs, "You have terrible aim."

"Okay, okay," He held his hand up, "I give up."

"Good," Gabriella couldn't contain her laughter, "I'm not hungry anymore."

Troy laughed with her. She pushed herself off Troy with his arms, but before moving she stretched her back, arching it and reaching back to pull her hair into ponytail. Troy watched as her stomach contracted and her chest rose, "You know, that was incredibly sexy?"

"What?" She twisted on her butt so that her head rested on his arm that was resting on the pillows.

"That move you just pulled there," He repeated, tilting his head to kiss her shoulder, "Really sexy Montez."

"Well I'm glad you enjoy me doing my hair," Gabriella joked as he pulled her closer, wrapping both arms around her, "You should be around every morning."

"I wish," Troy mumbled against her neck, leaning to lay half way on top of her.

"Troy, we probably shouldn't," Gabriella cut off her words when he quickly detached from her neck and reattached to her lips.

Troy gently caressed her lips with his, pressing sweet, gentle kisses to her lips. Gabriella twisted her arms over his shoulders and behind his back.

"As much as I'd love to," Gabriella mumbled, "I don't think we should continue much longer."

"I know," Troy whispered, looked in her eyes, and closed them again, kissing her lips repeatedly.

Troy slid fully on top of her, pulling away and gently resting his body on top of hers so that his head lay gently above her breasts. Slowly and lightly, he traced his finger over her chin, down her neck, and over the cardigan that adorned her shoulders and covered her silk tanktop. All his motions stopped and he rested his hands on her biceps.

Gabriella smiled down at him as he spoke, "I don't mean to sound demanding and this may be the wrong thing to say to a woman, but do you know we've only had sex once in twenty years?"

"If I didn't know you better, I'd think that would definitely not be the best thing to say to a woman," Gabriella sighed, "But I do and I'm just as frustrated as you."

"We really need to find some time that we can do it," Troy chose his words carefully, "Because sometime soon I'm not going to care who's in the house."

"That's bad," Gabriella looked at his scrunched eyebrows, "That we have to schedule sex, that just seems wrong."

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, we won't schedule for sex, we'll schedule alone time at one of our houses with no kids around."

* * *

"Troy," Gabriella shook his shoulder, "Troy, wake up."

Troy grumbled and turned his back to her, remaining partially asleep.

"C'mon," Gabriella shook a little harder, "Wake up."

Troy rolled over, grabbing Gabriella in the process and locking her body with his arms, "Sleep."

"No," She shook her head, "No more sleep."

"Gabi," Troy complained, nuzzling into the soft fabric of her cardigan.

"I'm serious, it's 10 A.M." Gabriella sighed and glanced at her phone, noticing that her mother had sent her several phone calls and text messages.

Troy's eyes widened, "It can't be."

"Oh, believe me, it is," Gabriella nodded her head toward the sunlight streaming in through the windows.

"What time did we fall asleep?" He asked, releasing her and rubbing his eyes.

Gabriella dialed the number of her mom's house, listening to it ring, "I don't know, sometime around nine probably."

"God, we're lame," Troy sat up and began to unbutton the shirt that he fell asleep in. Gabriella was still in her skirt, tank top, and cardigan.

"Shit my mom's going to be so mad at me," Gabriella smacked her forehead while waiting for her mother to answer.

"You sound like when we were in high school," He commented, remembering how Gabriella's mother hadn't been too appreciative of Gabriella's overnight stays with Troy.

"Mom?" Gabriella said once her mother finally answered, "It's me, I'm so sorry we totally-"

Troy watched as she stopped talking and nodded, listening to her mother. He shrugged the stiff shirt off his shoulder and grabbed some shorts and a t-shirt, holding it up to Gabriella to see if she wanted a pair herself. Seeing how she shook her head, he went into the bathroom to use the toilet and brush his teeth.

"Yeah, I'll be there in twenty minutes to pick them up, I swear we only fell asleep." Gabriella came hopping into the bathroom, glancing at Troy and gesturing to see if he still had the toothbrush she'd used weeks ago.

Troy found it and slid it across the counter to her, as well as the toothpaste, mouthing, "I'm sorry."

She finished with a few 'umm-humms' and hung up the phone, "I'm really sorry, but I have to go."

Troy nodded, "I figured, can I get you anything before you go? A cup of coffee or anything?"

She stuck the toothbrush in her mouth, "Nah."

"Okay," Troy ran his hand through his hair, "You sure you don't want anything to change into?" She shook her head in response.

As she finished up, he trailed her out to her car, "I'll see you later, call me."

"Don't worry," Gabriella accepted, "Maybe you can drop by for a couple hours tomorrow or something."

"Sure, tell me when," Troy bent through her door for one least goodbye kiss, "Bye."

"Bye," Gabriella accepted with a pucker.

* * *

**A/N: So, yeah that was kind of a filler chapter. Hope you still like it?**

**FYI: I leave for Australia in six days. I have to post my epilogue for AOBYM and I may or may not post the first chapter to a new story I've been working on for weeks. My guess is that at the earliest, I'll be able to update this in three weeks. Sorry D:**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: HEEEEEELLLLLOOOO Wonderful followers. Long time NO updates, eh? Sorry, I've been really busy and I know that everyone hates that excuse so I'm sorry I have a life. Actually, not really. But in this situation I guess I am. THis chapter's nothing special, I was going to put in the next day with this chapter also but I really don't have the time right now and I wanted to let you guys know I'm alive.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Just as she'd done so many years before, Gabriella sat on the red and white courtside bleachers. Dressed in red, white, and a pair of skinny jeans, she politely clapped as a tall senior scored his eighth point of the night. The Wildcats had an easy lead over their opponents, a suburb of the area. Mia sat beside her eating popcorn and Emma had opted on staying home and taking a hot shower after one of her last gymnastics practices.

Mia had never been to a basketball game before and wasn't finding much interest in the one they were watching currently, "Did you see that Mia? They just scored."

Mia's head bounced up from its fixation on the bottom of the popcorn bag, "What?"

Gabriella laughed at her obliviousness, "Nevermind."

She shrugged and continued to look everywhere else but the basketball court. Troy was on the opposite side of the court, he seemed fairly relaxed and paced back and forth with the pace of the game. Everytime players came in or went out, he'd give them a high-five as they chugged water from their bottles.

Mia jumped when the final buzzer rang and Gabriella stood with the rest of the crowd, joining in as the band played the school anthem. The team proceeded to line up for the ceremonial hand shake of good sportsmanship with the team wearing black and gold. Afterwards, they bumped chests and congratulated each other before proceeding into the locker room for a post-game talk from Troy and change before they left. Students, parents, and a few teachers began to file out of the gym and Gabriella and Mia followed them, waiting in the hallways for the team to resurface before leaving.

One by one the team strung out of the locker room. Troy lingered last, locking the locker room door and politely chatting with parents. When there were few people left he loosened his tie and sauntered over to Gabriella for a hug.

"Good game," She rubbed his back as he gave her a one armed hug.

"Thanks," Troy ruffled Mia's hair, "Did you have fun?"

Mia glared at Gabriella with wide eyes. She finished for her daughter, "She didn't really know what was going on."

Troy chuckled and motioned with his body to the doors, "Anyone want to go grab some congratulatory ice cream?"

Gabriella glanced at her watch, noting that it was just after eight o'clock, "I think we have time."

"Let's go then," He pressed his hand to the small of her back as they glided out of the building, "Where's Emma?"

"She needed some time to relax," Her voice had a little bit of a tone to it. Emma seemed to be growing more and more distant from her. It seemed to come in waves. "Salvatore's?"

"You got it," Troy opened her car door for her, "I'll follow you there."

* * *

For a Thursday night, Salvatore's was bussing with business. True to his word, Troy followed in his own vehicle and met up with them outside the entrance doors. The three moved to stand in line, being properly greeted by the man himself, "Well, well, well! Look who it is! What'll it be?"

"Brownie sundae?" Troy questioned rather than stating. Gabriella nodded her head in acceptance.

"And what'll it be for you Capretta?" He began to scoop some vanilla ice cream for the sundae.

"Hmm," Mia's face was deeply concentrated on the variety of ice cream flavors before her.

Troy laughed and joked, "Don't pick the wrong flavor."

"I don't know," Mia turned her head to her mother, "Do you think I should get chocolate chip cookie dough or peppermint bon bon?"

"Let me strike a deal with you," Salvatore leaned across the counter, "How about, just for you, a scoop of cookie dough and peppermint bon bon."

Mia nodded her head with a broad smile, "Deal."

"I got it," Troy stopped Gabriella as she tried to pay for the desserts.

Scooping a bite from their shared sundae, Gabriella curled a smile, "Thanks."

A female stepped up to Troy as they made their way to their table, "Troy, way to keep those boys in shape. And out of my house."

"Thanks Mrs. Fielder," Troy gave a polite smile and chuckled lightly, "But it's your sons who give it their all."

"Well they're a big fan of your coaching," This woman, Mrs. Fielder, replied.

"We've got some good talent," Troy agreed, not taking compliments all that well. Gabriella adjusted her feet awkwardly.

"I look forward to seeing how far they can go," Tension in the air was thick.

"It was nice talking," Troy didn't want to end rudely, "But I think I have to go eat some of my ice cream before it melts."

"See you later then," Mrs. Fielder clutched her purse to her side and marched out the door in a whirlwind.

Troy let out a long breath, "Five sons, I'm always dealing with one. And I've still got one more to go."

Gabriella giggled and held out a spoon full of ice cream and brownie, "Here, this'll relax you a bit."

Troy opened his mouth and accepted, "Mmm, you're right, but maybe we should sit down."

Mia had taken the liberty of already finding a table and sat with her first scoop almost gone, "Finally."

"Relax," Troy laughed, "You've only been here two minutes."

"But I'm halfway done," She explained overtly, "It's going to take you guys forever to finish that."

"Oh hush," Gabriella nudged her daughter with a playful eye roll.

"I know this is kind of off topic," Not that they had actually started a conversation, "But I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come have dinner with my parents? They really want to see you again."

"What are they going to have to eat?" Mia asked in all sincerity.

"I don't know, maybe pasta or pizza."

She contemplated for a bit and Gabriella laughed, "I guess I'll go."

"I guess I have to go then," Gabriella winked at Troy playfully, "Meeting the parents 2.0"

"I guess you do."

* * *

_Gabriella sighed as she pulled out a pan of slightly burnt brownies and mumbled to herself, "Better than nothing."_

_It'd only been a few weeks and nothing was official yet, which is why she was a little wierded out by meeting his parents. They'd dated a lot, talked a lot, and made out a lot but he hadn't actually made anything official. Yet, she was meeting his parents. That had to mean something._

_Seconds later Troy was urgently pounding on the front door, she slid her apron off and rushed to the front door, "C'mon Gabriella, hurry up."_

"_One second," She held up her finger and bustled back to the kitchen to shake some powdered sugar on top of the brownies._

_Troy rolled up his sleeve to glance at his watch, "We're going to be late."_

"_You should've come earlier," She scolded, sliding her heels on as Troy took the pan._

"_Let's go," He held the door open the second she got her heels on._

"_Wait," She stopped in the doorway, "You're forgetting something."_

"_What?" His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he glanced around, knowing that _he _certainly wasn't forgetting anything. Then she puckered her lips. Quickly he pecked her glossy lips before continuing his rush, "Okay, let's go now."_

_Troy held the door open for before he climbed into the driver's seat. He quickly backed out of the driveway and began the short drive to his house._

"_A few tips," He licked his dry lips before continuing, "No swearing. Second, no mentions of parties, Dad's my basketball coach. Third, don't question their questions because they're going to ask you whatever the hell they want to ask you."_

_Gabriella nodded her head and her curls bounced with it's movements, "Don't worry, parents love me."_

"_They'll seem sharp at first," Troy warned, "But after a few times meeting you they'll warm up."_

"_You're kidding," She said, apparently finding out that his parents didn't take this easily._

"_But I'm not," Troy tried to laugh and lighten the mood._

"_Oh God," She dug her head in her hands, "How do they even know we're dating?"_

"_Chad let it slip," Troy put the car in park as they pulled into his driveway, "Ready?"_

_Gabriella sighed, "Not anymore."_

"_Perfect," Troy chuckled, once again walking over to open the door for Gabriella. Instead of going to the front door, Troy lead her through the garage. Gabriella wasn't even able to take off her shoes before Troy's mother was on them._

"_You're late," Troy gave an eye roll since his back was to his mother._

"_Mom, this is Gabriella," Troy motioned toward her with his hands, "Gabriella, my mother Lucille."_

_Lucille stuck her hand out, "You can call me Mrs. Bolton."_

_Gabriella returned the tight grip Troy's mom was pressing on her and handed over the brownies, "Nice to meet you."_

"_Likewise," Lucille gave Gabriella the 'once over.' She was wearing a just-above-the-knee length beachy navy blue and white striped dress with an oversized white cardigan. "Come on now, dinner's been waiting on the table."_

_Gabriella gave Troy a wide-eye look as they walked to the table, he responded with a shrug and whispered, "They're not usually this bad."_

_Dinner was awkward in the sense that it reminded Gabriella of a scene from _My Big Fat Greek Wedding. _After dinner they were served her brownies._

"_It was nice to meet you Gabriella," Troy's father, Jack, said after dessert, "We look forward to having you over again."_

_Troy seemed to let out a visual sigh. Parent's usually took well to her grade point average and Ivy League aspirations._

* * *

"Em?" Gabriella said when she walked into her house, "You still up."

"Out here," Emma responded from the living room.

"Go get ready for bed, okay?" Gabriella nudged Mia toward the stairs, "I'll be up in a minute." She continued toward the living room, "How's it going?"

"I've got a ton to do," Emma had books sprawled all over the coffee table.

Gabriella sighed, finals were coming up as well as her final gymnastics tournament, "Can I help with anything?"

"I don't think so," Emma didn't even notice as Gabriella sat down next to her. Emma had an ice pack over her left shoulder.

"What happened?" Gabriella removed the ice pack and kneaded a little at the spot, Emma squirmed underneath the touch.

She sighed in frustration, "I don't know, I probably just pulled something."

Gabriella pulled the book off her lap and set it on the table in front of them, "Take a break and talk to me for a second."

Emma didn't respond, instead just lifting her head to look at her mother, "How was the game?"

"It was good, they won," She continued kneading Emma's shoulder, "I wish you could have come with."

"Yeah well," Emma responded with a stiff tone, "I had stuff to do."

Gabriella took in the off-standing tone, "Do you have something against Troy?"

"No," Emma shook her head.

"How come you never want to come with Mia and I when we go out with him? You would've had a good time tonight, we went out for ice cream."

"Because," Emma said in frustration, "I was busy. Look at all this work I have to get done."

"Are you sure that's it?" Gabriella questioned, not wanting to deal with a moody teenager at the moment.

"I just don't know him very well," She explained, "And I don't want to watch you be all mushy with someone."

"That's why you should come with," Gabriella pleaded, "And we aren't mushy when Mia's around."

"I don't want to get attached to someone right now," Her eyes were red and dark circles formed underneath them due to the lack sleep she'd had recently.

"How about we finish this later?" Gabriella stood and held her hand out to Emma to assist her off the couch, "You need some sleep."

"I can't go to bed yet," She shook her head, reaching out to grab her text book, "not with all this work."

"Which is why I'm giving you permission not to go to school tomorrow," Gabriella dictated, "You need some sleep and to relax a little bit. It's starting to show."

"I can't," She shook her head, "Not tomorrow."

"It's not an option. I'm staying here until you go up to bed."

"Are you kidding?" Emma asked slightly stunned, "You want me to skip school?"

"Yes," Gabriella accredited, "Being this stressed is never good."

Emma shut her book with a slam and dropped it on the couch as she stood up. Dragging her feet, she was actually kind of relieved to get out of a day of school and practice.

**Thanks to all my lovely reviewers (Esp. those who've been waiting for this chapter). I'm hoping the next few chapters will be better and longer. Sorry for the (probably) dissapointing update. I know I was disappointed in myself when I wrote it. I guess I just wasn't _in love _with it.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

It was nearly eleven A.M. and Emma had yet to make an appearance downstairs. She'd been long called in absent and Gabriella was getting some work done from home while she waited for Emma to wake up. She'd also been contemplating their conversation last night and what was going to happen knowing that Emma wouldn't be opening up to the relationship any time soon.

When she decided to make her appearance, she was freshly showered and wearing a short sleeve black t-shirt with grey sweat pants, "She's alive!"

"Haha Mom," Emma rolled her eyes before plopping down on the other side of the couch.

"What do you want to do today? Go to a movie? Shopping?" Gabriella shut her laptop closed and set it on the coffee table in front of them.

"Movie," She responded, "I'm too tired to walk around the mall for hours."

"Okay, are you hungry? Want me to make you anything?"

"I'll just wait until lunch," Emma reached over her shoulder to rub at the sore spot on her back.

"Come here," Gabriella motioned for Emma to turn around and scoot closer to her. She began to knead at the spot on her back, "You should probably ice it for a while. Are you sure you don't want me to make an appointment with a chiropractor?"

"It's fine," She persisted, "Just twisted the wrong way or something. Too many back handsprings."

"I'm still getting you some ice," Gabriella gave her a firm look, "You want a cup of coffee or juice while I'm up?"

"Coffee please," Emma pulled a blanket down from the edge of the couch. Gabriella returned seconds later.

"Are you doing something with Troy later?" Emma asked, kind of bitterly.

"Nope," Gabriella assured, slipping her feet underneath the blanket, "Just you, me, and Mia maybe."

"Good," Emma noticed that Gabriella seemed to twitch in an offended way, "I miss having family time, just us."

Gabriella took every word Emma said as something against her relationship, "Yeah, it'll be nice, just us."

* * *

"I hated the ending," Emma grumbled.

"Oh come on," Gabriella argued, "It wasn't that bad."

"So the guy goes to jail," She rolled her eyes, "What about the other guy's family? And how long does he go to jail? Life? Death penalty? A crappy sentence?"

"Okay, it was bad," Gabriella agreed while glancing at the time on her phone, "We better go pick up Mia though."

Half way through their conversation, Gabriella's phone began buzzing, still on vibrate from the movie theater, "Can you check to see who that is?"

"It's Troy," Emma held the phone out, "Do you wanna answer it?"

"Yeah," Gabriella grabbed the phone after Emma pressed the talk button, "Hey Troy."

"Hey," Troy greeted, "What are you doing?"

"Emma and I just finished our movie and we're going to go pick up Mia and have a family night," Gabriella explained.

"Are you free tomorrow night?" He catechized.

"Depends on what you had in mind," She contemplated, "We may have a little girl tagging along with us."

"Maybe we can have dinner at home then," Troy offered, "Whatever you want to do."

"Come over whenever then," Gabriella said, knowing that something had to be done about the situation, sooner or later.

"I'll see you later then," Troy concluded, "Bye Brie."

"Bye Troy," Gabriella said so softly it was barely audible.

* * *

Troy carried their usual food as he bounded up the steps to Gabriella's house. With full hands, he nudged the door open knowing Gabriella wouldn't mind, "Hello!"

"We're out here," Gabriella replied from the kitchen counter. She was bent over a text book with Emma, trying to figure something else. She sighed, "You should be able to figure this out, you are an English teacher after all."

"_Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," _Troy explained, "You can't enter a poem searching for an answer. You have to read it first, then ask the questions. The poem's about a man, he's tired and wants to stop for a break but he's got other things to do, places to be."

"Mhm," Emma nodded, trying to follow as Troy continued talking.

"So it's a struggle. Not just of that night but of life. The woods are supposed to seem tempting. It's like this guy is being tempted to give up on life on his most dire night. So it's a struggle between life and death. Would living be worth the pain?"

"Thanks," She stopped tapping her pencil against the counter tops and began writing the answer down.

Gabriella had their meals dished out on plates by the time Troy finished, "Take a break Em, dinner time."

"Is Mia home?" Troy peered around, waiting for her to come bouncing in the room.

"Nope," Gabriella shook her head, "She's at a friend's."

He chuckled slightly, "When you said I should expect a little girl's company I thought you were referring to your younger child."

"Assumptions, assumptions," Gabriella made a 'tisk' noise with her mouth and sat down at the counter between Troy and Emma.

They ate, made small talk about school and work, and wiped up their mess, depositing their dirty silverware in the kitchen sink to be washed later. Emma excused herself and went to her room to read _A Separate Peace _for her English class, leaving Troy and Gabriella to themselves for a while.

"Hey," Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist while standing behind her. Gently, he tugged her away from the counter, "What's up? I haven't gotten a single kiss all night."

"Hmm, nothing," She responded but didn't return any affection.

"Gabs," Troy let go of her, spinning her so that she was facing him, "What's going on?"

"You know how you wanted me to come to dinner with your parents?"

Troy nodded.

"I was just thinking, and talking with Emma, that maybe we need to try and slow things down a little bit," She revealed, staring at her hands while wringing them together.

"But I thought we agreed that you were fine with this? If you don't want to have dinner with my parents, just say so. You really don't have to-"

"It's not that Troy," Her eyes were glassy, fragile, "I don't think I'm ready for this big commitment and I need to listen to my daughters more. I mean, we haven't done anything just the three of us forever and Emma's so stressed out. It's only been a few months since my divorce-"

"I get it Gabriella," He took a step back, bumping into one of the kitchen stools, "I don't need to hear any more excuses. We'll just forget the last six months happened."

"Troy, that's not what I want," Gabriella demanded, "I never said that I want to forget everything that happened, I'm just saying maybe we're getting committed too quickly and involving too many people in it. I don't want to break up."

"I thought that you were leading the pace Gabriella," Troy ran his hand through his hair out of frustration, "Fine, I'll leave and give you some space to think." He trudged to his shoes, sliding them on and opening the door, Gabriella followed him, "I'm done with the games, I've tried all that I could to help you get over that asshole. Give me a call when you're ready to commit."

* * *

Troy had tried to keep calm, he really did. He spoke his thoughts without yelling and left without slamming a door. Even though anger was bubbling inside him, he went home calm. So they hadn't broken up, or had they? Or was it only moments before they did.

Whatever the answer, he was sick and tired of the games. He'd been there for her, and he would allow credit that she was going through a difficult time, but she was half of the relationship and if she thought they were moving too fast than she should have said something while he was in the midst of comforting her. Any other guy probably would have been through with everything a long time ago and as much as he didn't want to say it, didn't she know how lucky she was?

But like nothing happened, he went home. He said 'Good night' to his son and went to be. Then he slept and he slept and he slept.

* * *

Gabriella stood scrubbing a plate in the sink with a little too much vigor for a little too long. Actually, a lot longer than needed. Her nose was stuffy and running, and her throat was sore from holding back her tears.

"Mom? What are you doing?" Emma stifled a yawn as she glided down the steps.

"Nothing, I'm just," Gabriella sniffled, "Doing the dishes."

"Okay," She glanced around, "Did Troy already leave?"

"Yeah," Gabriella didn't feel the need to elaborate.

"Are you seeing him tomorrow?"

"No, I uh," Gabriella took a deep breath, "I don't think I'll be seeing him for a while."

Emma noticed that Gabriella wasn't turning around even though she was long done scrubbing at the plate. Her eyes widened, "What happened?"

"I just think we need a little space," Gabriella refused to face her daughter, "Too much commitment too soon is all."

"Okay, well I'm going to bed," Emma walked around and opened her arms to her mother, "Good night."

"'Night sweetie," Gabriella held on a little tighter and a little longer than she usually did.

* * *

When Troy was done sleeping and sleeping and sleeping, he lied in bed staring at the ceiling. Nine, ten, eleven, passed by and he remained staring and staring and staring until he couldn't stare anymore. At which point, he dragged himself out of bed and slid on a pair of basketball shorts. He didn't even bother to put on a shirt.

He didn't know how long he'd been shooting hoops in the driveway. He'd guess it'd been a long time, hours maybe. Lay up after lay up, free throw after free throw, and three pointer after three pointer. Then again, maybe it'd only been minutes because the time seemed to pass so slowly.

He'd been shooting hoops, repeatedly with frustration. For however long he'd been out shooting, whether it be minutes or hours, didn't change the fact that he hadn't made a single basket.

"Want to play a game of one-on-one?" Alex poked his head out from underneath the garage.

Troy sighed, "No, I'll play by myself. Just like I'll spend the rest of my life, alone." The ball he threw, hit the room, rebounding and narrowly missing his head, "I just want to make a damn basket."

Alex took a step back, "You've been out here a long time, what happened?"

"She dumped me."

"She dumped you?" Alex questioned, stunned.

"No," Troy shook his head, lining up for a three pointer on the right side of the court, "But she needs space. Same thing. Whatever, just throw six months of a relationship out the window. What does it matter anyway? I'll just be single for the rest of my life. One kid, eighty and never been married. That'll be me in forty years. No one will be around to call 911 when I fall down the stairs and break my-"

"Dad, c'mon now," Alex sat on the grass, tossing basketballs back to his father when they bounced off their makeshift court/driveway, "I'm sure you're being over dramatic. There's plenty of fish in the sea, you just have to find the right one."

"I did though," He continued shooting and venting, "She's the one, Alex. There's so many girls I've dated and none of them are like her."

"So, she said she needs space?" Alex watched his father nod his head, "Then give her space. Eventually she'll realize what she had and-"

"But what if she doesn't?" Troy dropped the basketball from his hands in defeat, "What if the next time I see her she dumps me for good?"

"I don't know," Alex had never seen his father like this, "Then she isn't the right girl and you move on."

"I'm sick of moving on," Troy joined Alex on the grass, leaning back so he was laying down on the prickly brown turf, "I always move on. I've never had a relationship last more than two years and I'm almost forty years old. Don't get me wrong, I love you and you're my family but I want to love someone for the rest of my life. I want to get married and sleep next to someone every night, ya know? Every morning I wake up in an empty bed and in three years you'll be gone and then what do I do?"

"Dad, I" Alex stuttered, "I don't know what to tell you."

"My time is ticking away. Every day you get closer to leaving and I'm scared that by then I won't have anyone. I'll be living alone. I've never done that. What if I die alone?" There was a long, silent pause, "I wonder what it's like," Troy shut his eyes, "To love someone for you whole life."

Alex squeezed Troy's shoulder, "Love hurts."

"You have no idea."

* * *

The next morning when Emma woke up, Gabriella had been long awake. She was typing away at her computer with a coffee cup not far from her mouth. Her eyes had dark circles underneath them, which was only emphasized from the dull chocolate color.

"What are you doing this early on a Sunday morning?" Emma asked, confused.

"What would you think about," She kept typing, "Making a trip to Connecticut for spring break? Grandma and grandpa said we could stay with them."

"Why?" After Gabriella's previous trip, Emma hadn't anticipated a trip so soon.

Gabriella shrugged, "Just to go back and see everyone."

"If you want to," Emma agreed, "I don't have a problem with it."

* * *

**A/N: So I hope you all are a little bit shocked.**

**In regards to reviews I got from the last chapter I would like to clear something up. There is no secret that is making Emma so stressed out. I think everyone agrees that high school is a rough period of time. From the mind of a gymnast, I'd like to stress that gymnastics is a very strenuous sport and that what's creating her soreness is normal for a gymnast. If you have the guts to do it, you better have the guts to deal with the injuries. Need I remind you, she's also dealing with her parent's divorce. Perfect combination for being stressed. There's nothing more to it, typical teenager. Sorry I made it seem like something else.**

**And to my reviewers, I love you guys as always. Keep up the good work por favor.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Troy settled down on the first day of spring break with a big, fat, pile of essays to grade. He wasn't sure if he purposely did it, so that when people called him he'd have an excuse for having no life, or if it was just easy to end units before a break. Whatever's done is done and he had a goal of grading four classes worth of eassays in one week.

Sure Alex was there, occasionally. He'd try to cheer him up, but Troy had no interest. Rumor has it, Gabriella was headed to Connecticut.

Not that he cared.

He glanced down at the first essay. By the end of the second paragraph he could tell it was plagiarized. Some kids were really stupid, copy pasting in different fonts.

Troy didn't bother reading the rest. He wrote a zero on the top along with a 'see me' that was underlined three times. Then he threw it in a pile so that he remembered to file an academic dishonesty report.

* * *

Mia was writhing in anticipation, "Are we going to see grandma and grandpa?"

"Umhm," Gabriella mumbled, trying to tone down the enthusiasm of her young daughter, "Do you want to watch a movie on my iPod?"

The little girl nodded her head. Gabriella took out her old iPod, flipping to the movies. She passed it to Mia, who chose one of the three movies she'd watched a million times already.

Gabriella let her head rest against the back of the seat and tilted back. Such a long flight. Emma had her head resting against the side of the window, earbuds in, and forgotten homework on the tray in front of her.

Suddenly this seemed like a bad idea.

The trip was all planned out. First she would go to her friend's birthday party, then hang out with Laura and her family, let Emma see some old friends, spend the day alone with Mia, visit her ex in-laws overnight, go back to the hotel, and leave the next day. No room for funny business, no time to think about Tom. Structured and predictable, just the way she liked it.

* * *

"Come on Dad," Alex shoved his shoulder, "You've wallowed enough."

"No," He shook his head, biting on the end of a pen, "No, I haven't."

"Come outside," Alex pointed at the door," And play some ball with me."

"I can't," Troy shook his head more, "Gotta finish correcting papers."

"It's Tuesday," Alex glanced at the watch to make sure he had the right day, "You have five more days to finish correcting papers. This isn't a question, come play some hoops."

Troy sighed, "Let me finish this paper and change. I'll be out in a minute."

"Good," Alex looked at the coffee table, "And what the Hell happened to Mr. Healthy, huh?"

Troy watched as he picked up his frozen pizza, bringing it into the kitchen to toss out.

"You know," Alex stated, "One day you're going to regret moping around like this. Why don't you just text her? She didn't even break up with you, she just needs a little space."

"It's been two weeks and she hasn't made any effort to contact me," Troy set down his finished paper.

"Because she thinks you are pissed at her!" Alex held his hands out dramatically.

"I am pissed at her," He held his hands out in a 'what the hell do you want me to do?' gesture.

"Tell her you miss her or something," Alex walked toward the door, "I'll meet you outside."

Troy sighed, running his hand through his hair. He needed to get out or something but he didn't want to.

Troy returned outside, Alex was warming up by shooting free throws from their makeshift chalk lines.

"I got a deal for you," Alex spoke when his father came outside, "I win, you call her."

"And if I win?" Troy questioned, not seeing the fairness in this so called 'deal.'

"If you win," Alex pondered, "I don't know, make something up."

"If I win," Troy motioned for Alex to toss him the ball, "You have to do the laundry for a week."

Alex smirked, all the more incentive for him to win. Laundry was not fun for any normal person and in a house where they sweated so much, laundry had become the most dreaded chore of all, "Deal."

Alex should have known he didn't stand a chance and the bet was stupid. He should have known he would never beat his dad in basketball and should have challenged him to soccer or something else.

But his Dad shouldn't have left his cell phone on the kitchen counter while he was in the shower.

He shouldn't have opened his contact list, scrolled to Gabriella's number, or open a blank text message. But he did. He probably shouldn't have typed an 'I miss you' but he did. And he certainly shouldn't have pressed send.

But he did.

And what's done is done, and there's nothing anybody could do about it.

* * *

Gabriella was at the mall with Mia, shopping for summer clothes, on Tuesday while Emma was at a movie with her friends.

She was glad her daughter's were enjoying the trip more than she was. They'd had fun the previous day with Laura and her son, going out for lunch and a round of laser tag. Emma had been excited to see her friends and so had Gabriella. She liked to think she missed Connecticut but she really didn't.

All she could think about the whole time was how her relationship with Troy was teetering on the edge of a cliff.

That was until her phone buzzed while she was in a dressing room. Before she could reach her phone, Mia had grabbed it from her purse.

"Who was it?"

"It says," Mia read the whole entry word for word, "One new message from Troy."

She turned around in surprise, "Let me see."

Mia forked over the phone, "Here."

Gabriella unlocked her phone and went to her inbox. Sure enough, there it was. His name highlighted as unread. She clicked the open button.

_I miss you_

That was it. It was good though, short and to the point. She held it, contemplating whether or not to respond right away or give it a few minutes.

Best give it a few minutes to mull over her answer.

She shoved her phone in her purse, "What should I try on first."

"That one," Mia pointed to the floral dress in her right hand.

"Okay," She pulled the curtain shut, and slid the dress right over her head.

* * *

It wasn't until she had to pick up Emma that she responded to the text.

She couldn't think of anything better to type.

_I miss you too._

* * *

Troy walked into the kitchen post shower, "Alex! What do you want for dinner?"

He waited for a response, "Can we have lasagna?"

"Sure," He poked his head out of the kitchen, "Anything else?"

"Nope," Alex shook his head, "Feel any better?"

"I guess," Troy shrugged, "Just because you were right, doesn't mean you're getting out of laundry."

"I didn't say that."

As he slid the tray into the oven, he heard his phone vibrate against the kitchen counter. Picking it up he glanced at the screen, one new message.

He opened it, from non other than Gabriella Montez herself.

_I miss you too._

He scrolled through to the last message he sent her, it was dated sometime while he was in the shower, "Alex!"

And with that, Alex stood from the couch, smirked, and ran for his room.

**A/N: So, moving things forward a little bit.**

**Shout out to my amazing reviewers. Y'all are awesome (and amazing)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Gabriella dropped her bags from the SUV. "Oh sweetie, I'm gonna miss you so much," Laura pouted from the open door of the driver's seat, "You sure you're not moving back anytime soon?"

Gabriella smiled and chuckled, thankful she had at least one friend, "Sorry, not anytime soon."

"Okay then," Laura hopped out of the seat, reaching out to give the three girls hugs, "I'm going to miss you guys. Call soon." When she reached Gabriella, she exclaimed, "And make Troy come with you next time! I want to meet this guy."

Gabriella and Emma cringed, "Okay."

"Have a safe flight girls," She slid back in her seat, "You've got everything, right?"

"Yep," Gabriella held up the tickets, "Thanks for the ride."

"Oh, no problem," Laura swatted her hand, "And visit soon."

Gabriella shouted back at her, "NO! You visit me! You'd love Albuquerque."

"I'll think about it!" Laura shouted back, waving one final time before rolling up the window and watched as they entered the airport.

"Well, who's ready to go home?" Gabriella glanced at her daughter's, Emma had had a rough trip, Mia seemed oblivious to it all. She raised her hand and Gabriella chuckled, "That makes one of us."

* * *

Troy had been in a seemingly better mood the rest of the break. He'd gotten asked part way through the week to help coach at a little kids basketball development training week after one of the coaches fell ill.

"Got all those essays graded?" Alex disturbed him from his trance as he walked into the living room with a piece of mango.

"Almost," Troy glanced at his watch, it was only 7:30 and he only had three more essays to read.

"You have time for a quick game?" Alex nodded his head toward the front door.

Troy smirked, "Always."

* * *

"Em," Gabriella sat down on the bench by the bon fire she'd started in celebration of the last day of spring break, "What can I do to make you feel better?"

Emma shrugged her shoulders, "Nothing."

"I'm sorry for bringing you to Connecticut," She rubbed her shoulder a little. Mia was up in bed.

"It's okay," Emma's head dropped to Gabriella's shoulder. The poor girl was heartbroken.

"I know you don't want to hear this," Gabriella assured, "But when the time comes, you'll find the right guy. In the meantime though, your heart's going to get a little dented."

"It's just hard to leave again," While Emma had been with her friends, one of the guys she'd had a crush on admitted that he used to like her.

"I know sweetie," Gabriella assured, "I know. And I'm sorry for bringing you, I shouldn't have teased you and Mia like that. I thought it would bring all of us some closure."

"And help you get over Troy," She added.

"Emma, I don't-"

"No Mom," Emma grumbled, "I know you broke up with him because of me."

"I didn't break up with him first of all," Gabriella defended herself, "Second, it wasn't because of you or Mia. It was getting to be too much too soon and I don't want-"

"So what Mom?" She huffed, "Just because I'm not the closest to Troy, doesn't mean you have to break up with him. Everything in the past few months has been overwhelming, Troy's probably been the least of my worries."

"I thought it was too much new for you guys," Gabriella explained, "And it's overwhelming for me to become so close to someone so soon after the divorce."

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Emma shrugged, "What makes you happy, makes you happy. And you haven't been happy since you and Troy broke up."

* * *

Troy trudged his way through the very familiar hallways of the high school. As much as he didn't want to admit, he was just as ready to finish the school year as all the students. A long month and a half was all that was left.

As he approached his classroom, he noticed something unusual, a cardboard box leaning up against his door. He picked it up and frowned, if he got mail he would be instructed to pick it up in the loading dock. The package had no signs of being sent through the mail.

He dropped it on to his desk, pulling out a pair of scissor from the drawer. He sliced through the tape on the package, tilting it upside down. Out fell what looked like and peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a letter.

He recognized the handwriting the second he opened it. Her curly writing and loopy undecipherable scribbles where a dead giveaway.

_Dear Troy,_

_I'm sorry for what I said the other day. You know that this has been a tough transition for me, as well as my daughters. It's no excuse for hurting you but I thought Emma was hurt about me dating you, and I can't stand to see either of my girls so upset. I'm sorry, I really am, but I'm not the only one hurting and I need to protect my baby girls._

_That doesn't mean that I don't miss you like crazy and that I don't want to make the work. I really do Troy, trust me._

_Remember when we were in high school and neither of us could cook for shit?_

_I always felt terrible that all I could ever make was PB&J. You always said it was fine and that no matter what anybody said, the real way to a man's heart is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so you had me make one for your lunch everyday. So I've been thinking, maybe I can start doing that again? Because I really want to find a way to your heart again._

_Don't forget, I love you._

_-Gabriella_

Screw lunch, Troy thought, he was going to eat the sandwich right there and then. Before he did though, he picked up his cell phone, scrolled to her recently untouched contact, and sent a quick _thatnks for the sandwich._

After he sent it, he hesitated a little bit before typing, _And I love you too._

He didn't get a response, and knew he probably wouldn't until she had a break at work.

* * *

"Why am I going to grandma's house?" Mia propoganda'd her for about the millionth time.

"Oh shush Mia," Emma rolled her eye, "Mom's going out."

"Emma be a little nicer," Gabriella scolded, "And Mia, I'm going out with Troy, okay?"

"Are you going to start dating again?" Her eyes lit up, and suddenly she was ready to leave, "Can he come and teach me how to cook again?"

"I don't know," This was why she was wary of admitting where she was going, she didn't want Mia to get her hopes up, "And I don't know, okay?"

"Okay," Mia nodded her head, suddenly feeling her mother's anxiousness.

"So let's hurry up so I can get you to grandma's house, okay?"

Mia jumped up, "Let me grab my bag."

She bounded up the stairs, "Do you have your tooth brush?"

"NO!" Gabriella saw her change directions and run to the bathroom, she chuckled.

"Let's go, go, go!"

* * *

"Doesn't it hurt?" Gabriella rubbed her thumb over his eye, which was beginning to swell into a nice blue and purple ring.

"It's fine Brie," He rolled his eyes after flinching from her touch, "Just stop rubbing it."

"I'll go get you some ice," She stood up from the couch in her short, flowy dress and gladiator sandals.

"No," He tugged her hand so that she fell back on the couch, "I'm fine, I don't need ice."

"Are you sure?" She wimpered a little, "I feel really bad."

"I know, but you know what would make me feel better?" Troy's arm wrapped around her back as she folded her knees underneath her.

"What?"

"How about a kiss?" Troy tugged her closer as he tightened a fist and bunched up her dress in his fist.

"Are you sure Troy?" Gabriella's eyes widened, "I mean we just had a break, for like a month and I hit you with a basketball and-"

"No more and's Gabriella," Troy rolled his eyes at her, "I thought we decided we were going to move on and get over this? Isn't that what we talked about at dinner?"

"I know but-"

"No buts Gabriella. Everyone would tell me not to cave and forgive you right away but I'd much rather be with you than without you, miserable, knowing that I had the opportunity."

"Well, in that case," She bent forward, tilting her head to the same angle she always did when they kissed.

When she felt her nose brush his face, he pulled back, slapping his hand over his eye, "Ouch!"

"Oh my gosh," She covered her hand with her mouth, "I'm so sorry Troy, you said it didn't hurt!"

"I kidding Gabriella," Troy laughed and she hit his shoulder, "No pain, at all."

"That's very reassuring Troy," Her face blushed to a crimson color, "I feel so bad."

"You've only said that about a million times since we came in, how many times do I have to say that it's fine?" Troy smiled at her, she was more embarrassed than she was worried.

"I just, I can't believe I hit you in the face with a basketball!" When they'd arrived at his house after a quiet, well a lot of talking at a quiet restaurant, dinner she'd had the fabulous idea of trying to shoot some hoops. It'd been fabulous, until in the dark she'd passed him a ball when he wasn't paying attention, causing the swelling around his eye.

"I know baby," He tugged her further, so she was partially on his lap, "But it's been well over fifteen minutes, clearly time to move on."

Gabriella bit her lip, "You're absolutely sure?"

"I'm one hundred percent sure," Troy confirmed by nodding his head, "So sure, that starting this very second I'm banning all conversation of it."

"Okay."

"Now," Troy demanded, "Kiss me woman!"

* * *

"Soooooooo," Emma dragged out far too long, before smirking, "How was your date last night?"

Gabriella swore as she saw Emma sitting on the couch in the living room, witnessing her walk of shame, "It was fine."

"By the looks of it, it was more than fine," She covered her mouth as it came out.

"What was that?" Gabriella questioned pointedly, Troy's baggy shirt covering her body.

"Nothing," Emma squaked from her spot.

Gabriella bounded up the stairs for a shower, "That's what I thought."

* * *

"Guess who got their permit?" Alex walked right through the front door of Gabriella's house waving his wallet around in his hand.

Gabriella jumped from surprise at her spot in the kitchen before turning around, "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," Alex held his hands up, "Never heard you swear before."

"It's okay," Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion, "Wait, what are you doing here?"

"Dad said you left something at the house, so I seized the opportunity to get some driving practice," And as though he'd cued it, Troy walked in through the door, looking a little shaken and defeated.

"Hey," He waved and held out a plastic bag, "Where do you want me to put this?"

"The laundry room's fine," She blushed, noticing it was her clothes from a few nights before, "I'll wash it later."

"Oh, I already washed it," Her mouth gaped.

"Uh," Gabriella stood in shock, "Just set it on the step then."

Troy set it down, strolling over to her as Alex searched the house, "You know I've never been in here before?"

"Nobody cares Alex," Troy rolled his eyes, glancing to make sure Mia wasn't in the room, before grasping her hips and bringing her closer to kiss.

"That's not very nice," Alex rolled his eyes back.

She pulled back and questioned, "So, did you have a nice ride over here?"

Troy sighed, "Don't even get me started. He insisted on driving home from the DMV but I told him he couldn't and that I'd let him drive somewhere else later. Scariest six minutes of my life."

Gabriella giggled, "I bet."

"Yeah, well, it was bound to happen sometime," Troy saw that Alex had found Emma and Mia outside and was making small talk with them.

"So you did my laundry?" Gabriella smirked.

Troy shrugged, "It was just sitting there on the floor and I figured that instead of having your bra laying out on the floor teasing me I'd-"

Gabriella slapped his shoulder, "Shut up. Are you staying for dinner?"

"Depends," Troy asked, "Are you cooking?"

"Oh my God," She tried to push him away, but his grip on her waist tightened, "What is it, pick on Gabriella day?"

* * *

**Long time no see, eh? Sorry about that, I think this has been the longest time I've ever gone without updating. I've just been having some difficulty adjusting to my new surroundings and my host family (And I missed the birth of my new nieces) so I've been feeling a bit homesick, etc. **

**WOOHOO! WE REACHED TWO HUNDRED REVIEWS! THAT'S A FIRST FOR ME! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: Eh, I wish.**

* * *

The ending of Spring slowly passed, Summer dragging it's heat along with it. Finally, school was ending in two weeks. The seniors were elated, no finals meaning that they got out a week early and their last week was pretty pointless. With that said, the not so highly anticipated career day was coming up. Being a teacher, Troy was responsible for finding someone to come in and talk about their job. He'd always had his Dad come in, it always brought him back to his teaching days, but this year the career center was becoming a little frustrated that he brought in the same person every year, thus he had two days to find someone else to speak.

Of course, the first person he thought of was his lovely girlfriend.

"Do you even think anyone would be interested in learning about Bio-Chemistry Troy? I mean it's not even that interesting and-"

"Please Gabi? I'm sure someone as lovely and dedicated to the field of science as you would entice my students on the metabolic content of banana's," Damn, he was really pulling out the sweet talk.

"That's not what I do but," She hesitated, knowing that eventually she was going to end up agreeing, "You know how I am in front of people."

"Absolutely wonderful, I know," Troy finished for her, "It's just four groups of kids for twenty minutes-"

"Twenty minutes?" She exclaimed, "How am I supposed to entertain kids for twenty minutes on my job?"

"I'll help you put together a powerpoint or something," Troy begged, "Come on Gab, there may be a student at East High who isn't sure whether to pursue a career in Bio-Chemistry or," He paused for a second, "Physics and because you won't be there to tell them about how absolutely _awesome _your job is, they'll choose physics and then the field of Bio-Chemistry will be down one less person all because you wouldn't come to career day."

"Troy," Gabriella warned firmly.

"I know it's a really big favor and that it's last minute but they said I couldn't bring Dad in again, and I don't know who else would do it," He was almost out of breath trying to convince her, "Please, I owe you big time."

"Fine," She grumbled, getting ready to explain to the situation to her boss, "IF I can get out of work. No guarantees."

"Really? You'll do it?" He asked, excited.

"If I can get the day off," Gabriella reminded, "I'm still new to this location and my boss-"

"Absolutely loves you and will be glad that you're educating students on the field of Bio-Chemistry," Troy finished for her.

"Ha, we'll see," Gabriella listened as someone knocked on her door, "Listen I have to get to the lab, I'll call you later so we can figure out this whole presentation thing, okay?"

"Yes, absolutely," He grinned his cheeky smile from his desk, "I have a class in five minutes anyway. See you later and thank you so much."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," She glanced up at the clock, she had three minutes to wash up and put on her gloves, safety goggles, and apron, "I love you."

"Love you too," Troy stiffened slightly as his son walked in through the door at the tail end of his statement, "Bye."

"Bye," She replied, rushing to get to the lab prep area.

"Who was that?" Alex asked, stepping into the empty classroom, a few of the student's who had just finished lunch entered after him, seeing that the coast was clear.

"Um," He flipped on his computer to the attendance screen, "Gabriella."

"Of course," Alex rolled his eyes, "Your welcome. Anyway."

"What do you need?" Troy leaned back in his cushioned chair, recognizing Alex's tone of voice.

"I left my lunch at home," He explained, "So I need some lunch money."

Troy sighed, pushing himself back to where he always left the backpack he brought to school, "Here."

Alex held his hand out but Troy pulled the money back from his hand.

"No fries," Troy demanded, "You have a game tonight. You'll get sick."

"I know Dad," Alex grumbled, "No fries, nothing salty. Something high in protein and carbs. Get some fruit on the side."

"Good," Troy smiled happily, reaching back into his backpack to grab his extra grapes from his lunch. "Here, have these," Troy threw the ziplock baggie at him, only to see Alex catch them successfully.

* * *

"Alex!" Troy yelled as the car came to a screeching halt right in front of a stop light.

Gabriella wasn't sure what she had gotten herself into as the car moved forward a little, only to jerk to a stop again as Alex stomped on the breaks.

"I should've drove," Troy mumbled under his breath, "Okay, now you can turn."

Alex seemed unfazed, making the left turn as Troy had instructed him. He actually turned into the correct lane and kept moving at a solid 35 miles per hour. Troy was thankful that no more left turns had to be made as he saw the lights of East High School's track/football/soccer field up the street.

Checking to make sure there was no cars before giving instructions, Troy explained, "Okay switch lanes."

Alex did so, without turning on his blinker.

"Alex, blinker, and don't forget to look," Troy's hand tightened into a fist and he sighed out of relief that all that stood between them and the parking lot was a single right turn, "Okay, slow, yes, nice and slow, perfect."

Alex swung around the parking lot, sloppily into an available parking spot towards the back of the lot. Troy shrugged, deciding that nobody would park that far away and it didn't matter that he was a little over the line. He held out his hand, "Before you book it to the locker room, give me the keys."

Alex handed it over and Troy opened the door and held out his hand for Gabriella to take as she gracefully exited the car. She agreed to come to the game that night, as long as Troy helped her prepare for her presentation the next night, "I'm sorry Alex almost killed us."

"No, it's," She contemplated the right word to use, "You know what? He's just as terrible of a driver as you said."

"I don't exaggerate," Troy grabbed her hand and they headed toward the field gates. It was the first game of the night league Alex played in over the summer. It was too hot to play during the day so they all practiced and played games after it was dark out, explaining the late game.

"That you do not," She watched as he held out the card that indicated he was a player's parent so they wouldn't have to pay. They were shooed in and Troy checked his watch, there was still a good twenty minutes before the game started.

"You want to grab some snacks?" Troy motioned toward the doors of the building he worked at every day.

"If you insist," Her eyes lit up when Troy mentioned cookies and she kept a tight grip on his hand. They waited behind a few other parents, Troy got a few questioning looks from some of the other parent's, seeing him holding hands with someone. No one had bothered to start a conversation with them.

Troy's hand tightened around hers as they were standing around, simply talking and waiting for the game to begin, "Hide yourself, go to the bathroom, whatever you do get out of her."

"What? Why?" Gabriella glanced around, only to find a woman with short blond hair power walking toward them with a binder in her hand. When she realized what was happening, it was too late.

"Troy, oh it's so good to see you again sweetie," The woman tugged Troy aware from her, pulling him into a hug.

"Likewise," Troy took a few steps back with a fake smile plastered on his face.

"Hi," The woman stuck her hand out toward her, "I'm Jeane Wilson, my son's Thomas, starting left mid."

"Um hi," Gabriella excepted a fiercely strong handshake from the woman, "I'm Gabriella, my daughter's varsity gymnast, spot two."

The woman clearly didn't get that she was joking around, Troy smirked, "Well, nice to meet you Gabriella. I'm surprised I haven't heard about you from Troy. Being the only other single parent of the team, we like to stick together, don't we Troy?"

Gabriella assumed that was supposed to make her feel bad, "You do?"

Troy tried not to laugh at her inquisitive tone, "I guess so."

"Here," Jeane, interesting name Gabriella thought, pulled out a packet of paper from her binder, "Fundraising packet for the season. I'd also like if I could get an email from everyone for their volunteer concession times."

"Will do," Troy agreed, wrapping his arm around Gabriella for a little support.

"Well I better finish making the round," She motioned to the other parents with her hands, "Lots of people to try and track down."

"In that case we'll let you go," Troy confirmed.

"Okay, we'll have to catch up sometime," She adjusted the paper in her binder, "Did you hear the Johnson's are getting divorced? Such a shame. Enjoy the game Gabriella."

"Thank you," She said softly, only for it to leave her mouth after the woman had briskly walked away, "Who the hell was that?"

Troy chuckled, "Gosh, I've known her since Alex was eight, she's been single ever since. She always tries to sit by me and get me to be her 'co-manager' and stuff. Gossip Mom."

"Sounds like fun," She smiled as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, fun," He motioned back toward the door, "Want to go sit down?"

"Sure."

* * *

"Are you sure this is good?" Gabriella asked, it was nearing midnight and Emma had called about two hours ago to inform her that she was going to bed and Mia had already fallen asleep.

"Gabriella, fifteen slides is plenty," He stressed, she was so worried about this presentation. They were sitting on his bed with her laptop perched on her legs. He was learning a lot about what she did as apposed to just reading about Bio-Chemistry on the internet.

"Poor kids are going to be so bored," She stated and Troy reached over, shutting the laptop and taking it from her. He gently set it on the ground next to his low laying bed, "Hey!"

"You're done," He stated, "I do this for a living. Trust me, you'll be fine."

"Ugh," She threw her head back against the soft pillows that covered his bed.

Troy reached out for her hand, skimming her arm on it's way there, "You should go home, get some sleep."

"We haven't spent any time together though," She yawned, scooting closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"You don't want to fall asleep here though," He reminded of her daughter's, who she already felt nervous leaving home alone.

"Just give me five minutes," She glanced at her watch, "We don't get to be alone a lot, just the two of us."

"I know," Troy's arms curled around her, "It's so quiet."

"Mhm," Gabriella agreed, "No little babies running around and screaming in the middle of the night anymore."

Troy chuckled, "Oh the good days."

"Do you ever wish you had more kids?"

Troy shrugged, "Sure I've wanted more kids but that doesn't mean that I would go out and get some random girl pregnant. That's not what it's about."

"I know," She draped her arm across his stomach, "I was just curious."

"What about you?" He kissed the top of her head, "Do you want more kids?"

"Tom and I always said three," She sucked in a breath, "But we kept putting it off, whenever it came up we just kept saying 'when Mia's older' and now look where we are?"

Troy sat silently for a couple of seconds, "Do you think having another kid would have saved your marriage?"

Gabriella thought deeply, "I'm not sure. It could have, or we could have ended up exactly where things are now, just with another kid." She felt Troy nod in understanding, "Do you think having a kid ruined your relationship with Krista?"

It wasn't often Troy thought about Krista, where she was, who she was with, what her family was like, if she ever regretted leaving, "I'm pretty sure that's what ended up breaking us up but I think I only really loved her because she had my baby, does that make sense?" He felt Gabriella shrug through his shoulders, "When we found out she was pregnant we rushed everything, moving in, talking about getting married, stuff like that. I think the only reason we lasted nine months longer in our relationship was because of Alex."

Gabriella absentmindedly drew patterns on his stomach, "Did you think you were going to marry her?"

Troy hadn't talked, or thought, so in depth about Krista for years, generally only when Alex was curious and asked questions about her, "I thought I had to, like we were stuck together because we had careless drunk sex one night."

"And you've never heard from her since she left?"

"She started sending cards on Alex's birthday when he was about six or seven with a little money," Troy explained, "She sent me a letter a few years ago when she got married, it said I could come if I want and gave me so contact information if Alex ever wanted to meet her. Every once in a while she sends me one saying she'd like to meet Alex but only if I'm okay with it and he wants to do it. She always says leaving him was the biggest regret of her life, and rightfully so."

"I couldn't imagine leaving my kid," Gabriella shook her head, "But Alex doesn't want to see her? At all?"

"I think he'd like to, just to put a face to where he came from, but then again it's unforgivable and he gets pretty sensitive about it. Eventually, I think he'll meet her when he's older and ready to but I don't think that'll be for a while."

"That's understandable," She pushed herself up from him a little, "I always wondered what happened to my Dad."

"I know," Troy watched her eyes, when they were in high school she'd talked about it, always upset that she had to grow up without a father. Little did they know.

"And you don't have any desire to see her?" Gabriella asked, fully knowing that it was possible to clear the air, "You know, just find out why she did it?"

"I think about it sometimes," Troy sighed, "But I'm over it now. It'd be different if I needed some closure or something but I just don't love her and I don't think I ever really did, so I'd rather not deal with it. It's all in the past."

"You've never written a letter back?"

"When she first sent a letter with Alex's birthday card I wrote her back just to let her know that she had the right address because she wasn't sure at the moment," He stated, "I just said that in the future I'm sure Alex would appreciate the thought."

"At least she has the mind to realize what she did wrong," Gabriella noted to him.

Troy nodded, "I can't imagine raising Alex with her or how different my life would have been, you know?"

"Yeah," Gabriella stood up, bending over to give him a kiss, "I better leave honey."

"I'll walk you out," Troy bent his elbows, pushing himself up with a little extra force.

"That's fine," Gabriella shook her, "I can make it on my own."

Troy shook his head in return, "I have to lock up anyway, turn the lights off."

"Okay," She held her hand out, leading the way to the door. They padded down the stairs, Gabriella slipping on her shoes at the bottom. Before she knew what was going on, Troy had her gently caged against the door, kissing her softly. Her hands grasped his neck lightly, letting him know she was there.

"I love you Gabs," He whispered, stepping back and wiping a hand through his hair.

She bit her lip, using the door as support, "I love you too."

"So I'll see you Thursday for sure? Maybe tomorrow?" Troy confirmed, knowing she wanted to run through her presentation once.

"Thursday for sure," Gabriella confirmed, "I'll see you then. Ten sharp."

"Good," He pressed one more kiss to her lips, "See you later."

"Bye," She waved after stepping closer to her car and Troy waited until she backed out of the driveway before closing and locking the door.

* * *

Troy woke up the following morning to the pounding on his bedroom door, "Dad wake up, it's 6:30."

He groaned, rolling over exhausted from very few hours of sleep. Shoving the covers off of himself, he stepped out of bed rubbing the exhaustion from his face. After a quick shower and shave, he stepped back in his room to pick out his clothes for the day, only to discover Gabriella's laptop still sitting on the floor, "Shit."

Picking it up, he stuffed it in his backpack so as not to forget it, the proceeded to pick out his outfit. He'd have to drop it off at Gabriella's before she left, he knew it had a countless amount of lab data and results that she'd undoubtedly need for the day. He tried to rush Alex a little faster through breakfast, knowing they have to pull fifteen minutes out of thin air. Finally, he pulled out of the driveway, heading for her house. Troy excused himself, leaving Alex in the running car while he quickly ran Gabriella's laptop into her house.

He knocked on the door but didn't wait for an answer, knowing that they were probably rushing around also. Stepping in, he noticed Gabriella rushing to grab things and stuff them into her bag, gently and quietly so that he didn't scare her, he walked up, holding out her laptop, "Need this."

"Oh my God," She held her hand over her heart, "You guys need to stop scaring me."

"Sorry," Troy sheepishly smiled, "I knocked."

"I didn't hear it," She stood, giving him a quick kiss, "Listen I've got to book it, I have to get Emma to school on time."

"I can take her," Troy volunteered, knowing she was already stressed out, "That'll give you a little more time before you have to bring Mia in."

"You'd do that?"

"Where else do you think I'm going?" He asked amused.

"I'd love if you could do that," She suddenly stopped, "Emma!" She shouted up the stairs.

Emma came bouncing down, ready to leave for school.

"Troy came to drop off my laptop from last night," She explained why he was standing behind her, "Do you mind getting a ride to school with him?"

"Um," She stood a little surprised, "I guess not."

"Thanks sweetie," Gabriella walked over to her, giving her a quick hug goodbye before giving Troy a quick kiss, thanking him as well.

"I'll see you after school Em!" Gabriella shouted as she watched her daughter and Troy walk to the car.

"Bye Mom," Emma returned as she stepped outside.

There was an awkward silence as she slid into the car with Troy and Alex. She had only been in the same room as Alex twice, once on Thanksgiving and when Troy and him had been at their house a few weeks ago. He said a simple, "Good Morning," to her as she slid in the car.

Troy continued to drive in silence, noting the sudden awkwardness that had been brought in the car. "Well, you've almost finished a year at East, how do you like it?"

Emma was a little surprised when he started talking to her, "Good I guess."

"I bet it's a lot bigger than your school in Connecticut, huh?"

"Yeah," She recalled her old school, one level, she'd known everyone at her high school since kindergarten, "I only had a hundred kids in my class."

You would've thought Alex saw a moose crossing the road with how wide his eyes got, "That's it? There's like five hundred in our class at East."

"That's what I'm saying," It was a short ride, and soon enough they were there. She climbed out of the car, it was all a little strange, riding to school with a teacher, "Um, thanks for the ride."

Before Troy had the chance to say 'you're welcome' she was off chatting with one of the girls he recognized from one of his classes. Alex shot him a look and Troy shrugged in response.

* * *

Gabriella walked into the building of East High School on Thursday morning with her hands shaking full of two cups of coffee. She'd been so stupid to agree with him. She had to try and calm her nerves so that she wouldn't spill the coffee on her flowy knee length summer dress. It was getting hot, that was for sure.

Climbing the steps she tried to remember which way Troy's classroom was. Last time she had been there she randomly guessed. Seeing that the numbers on the doors seemed to increase on her right, she chose that way. She could take her time anyway, she was fifteen minutes early.

Finally finding it, she stopped in front of his closed door. Glancing through the window, she could see Troy talking in front of a smart board, some sort of chart that she wasn't sure what it was about donned upon it. She felt bad disrupting him but he told her that if he was teaching she could just knock on the door. Doing so, she saw him glance over at her through the window and begin to stride toward the door. She also noted the piece of paper taped on the wall by his door that said Ms. Montez/Mr. Bolton along with the word Bio-Chemistry for those students who weren't sure if they were in the right place.

"You're early," He stated as he opened the door for her.

"Yeah, I brought you some coffee," She handed him the extra cup and he gladly accepted it.

"Thanks," Troy replied, giving her a smile and motioning toward his desk, "You can sit down while I finish then I'll hook up your laptop so it works with the smart board."

"Okay," She nodded and crossed the room, noting the eyes of a class full of teenagers aimed directly at her.

"Everyone that's Gabriella Montez, my volunteer for career day," He pointed toward her and she gave a small wave, "She's a bio-chemist. Now back to _Tom Sawyer_."

Gabriella sat back and watched as he explained some of the dialogue from a passage of the text, which he projected onto the board, telling the students what to take notes on and hinting what questions might be on their final exam. Before she knew it the bell rang and people shuffled out of the room. Troy walked back toward her with a smile on her face, "Do you know how awesome you are?"

She knew he was thanking her for coming, "Pretty damn awesome."

Troy chuckled, "Pretty damn awesome is right love." He grabbed a cord, unhooking it from his desktop computer and plugging it into her laptop. Then, he pulled up her powerpoint and it projected onto the screen, "So you tap it once to go to the next slide."

"Got it," She nodded.

"I have to take attendance first then it's all you," He began to click on his computer mouse a few times, successfully pulling up the attendance sheet. A few of the early arrivers strolled in, a group of girls gathering around desks and giggling. Troy sat on top of his desk, facing Gabriella, as the rest of the students poured in. They were expecting a class of about twenty people, "The first two groups of students were assigned to be here based on some test scores from their last standardized test, the second two groups have chosen to be here.

"You so owe me," Gabriella grumbled, surprised to see Alex stroll in, "What's your son doing here?"

"What do you me-" Troy glanced behind him, sure enough Alex was talking with the gaggle of girls around a few desks. He saw a few giggle and realized his son was turning into a miniature form of himself, which scared him a little. When the bell rang he pushed himself up to get the class to quiet down.

"Welcome to room two thirty-three I'm Mr. Bolton if you've never had me before," He welcomed the students in the room, "First I'll do attendance then I'll hand you over to Ms. Montez."

Gabriella wrung her hands as Troy went through his list. She stood nervously and he sat down where she had previously occupied his swivel chair. She stood in front of the students, as composed as possible and started with her opening slide, "Hello, my name is Gabriella Montez and I'm a Bio-Chemist at Johnston Enterprises, specializing in creating eco friendly herbicides. I'm a graduate of Dartmouth College, and more importantly, East High School."

She started by explaining what Bio-Chemistry exactly was before moving on to describing what she learned in college and the various jobs she'd held in the past. Troy watched as she easily talked about what she did for a living, passion flowing from her eyes and not showing a single bit of nervousness.

He faltered for a second as Alex raised his hand with a smirk on his face. Before Gabriella noticed, he instructed, "Alex put your hand down."

"Why?" Alex complained in response.

"Because," He rolled his eyes, "No smartass questions."

"It's not a smart-"

"Then you won't mind asking your question later, will you?" Troy watched in victory as his son slunk down in his chair, saving Gabriella from an undoubtedly embarrassing question.

* * *

**A/N: Damn, you guys are lucky. Long chapter, quick update.**

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my lucky reviewers. My updates aren't very regular and who knows when I'll update next but I always love that I've got some support.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Gabriella_ Montez took her time strolling down the quiet hallway of East High. Her fingers slid across the cold lockers and she pulled her sweater closer to her body. A few people passed her as she allowed her back to slide down the lockers and her butt hit the ground. It was nearly nine o'clock at night, she was waiting for Troy to come out of the locker room after yet another victory with the wildcat's._

_Some of the player's lifted their hands in half waves. She tried to smile at them but the pain in her side overruled her gratuity. Gently, her eyes drifted shut and her body became numb. Before she assumed she fell asleep, she heard a gentle voice. Her eyes flickered back open, glancing upwards, "Gabriella, are you okay?"_

_Troy was knelt in front of her, his hands on her bent knees. Slowly, his hand stroked the side of her face, trying to get a reaction out of her, "Brie?"_

"_Huh?" She whispered back, lifting her hand to her head where there was a dull pounding._

"_I said are you okay?" He repeated gently._

"_Yeah," She nodded, sighing and rubbing at her eyes, "I'm-"_

_Troy's face scrunched as she cut off her sentence without an interruption. He put the back of his hand against her forehead, feeling that she was a bit warm, "Brie, you still there?"_

_Gabriella nodded, assuring that she could still hear him. Troy looked around, trying to see if he could spot a coach or the athletic trainer. No luck._

"_Brie?" He tried to arouse her enough to tell him what was wrong, "Are you sure you're okay?"_

_She shook her head, her hands clutched at her side, "It hurts."_

"_What does?" Troy kept rubbing his hands up and down her arms. She didn't respond and he took the clutching at her left side as her sign of pain. Glancing around again, he caught one of the assistant coaches exiting the locker room, locking it on his way out, "Coach!"_

_The college aged man strolled down toward him in his casual attire. When he reached Troy he noted he noticed the look of concern on his face, "What's up."_

"_I don't know," He nodded toward Gabriella, "I found her out here, she says she's in pain."_

"_What's her name?" The coach leaned down by her, his first aid training was limited, "Can you open your eyes for me?"_

_She inhaled sharply and shook her head at the unfamiliar voice. She could hear Troy faintly say, "Gabriella."_

"_Gabriella, on a scale of one to ten, how much does it hurt?" The unfamiliar voice asked._

_She groaned, her eyes fluttering open for a second only to close at the bright light, "Twenty-seven."_

"_I don't know Troy," The coach said with quiet concern, "But I'd take her to get some help."_

"_Okay," Troy nodded, knowing that something was wrong, "Gabriella, can I have your keys?"_

_She groaned again, "Purse."_

"_Do you think you can carry her purse and my duffle bag to the car?" Troy asked the assistant coach standing behind him, who nodded in response. He quickly dug through her purse to find her keys, gently warning her and sliding one arm underneath her leg, the other behind her back, "Baby, I'm going to pick you up."_

_Before she knew it she felt like she was floating in the air. The flight didn't last long and before she knew it there was a cool smooth substance underneath her. She didn't really care though, all she knew was there was a terrible pain in her midsection._

"_Brie," Troy spoke carefully, resting his hand on her thigh, "I'm going to take you to the hospital, okay?"_

_She didn't respond, just grunted in response._

Gabriella woke up to the shrill ring of her cell phone. Groaning, she grabbed it and hit the answer button. She hadn't thought about that night since, well, high school. Muttering a pathetic, "Hello," she answered the phone.

"Hey Brie," Troy's sweet voice reverberated through the phone.

Gabriella smiled gently, sitting up and glancing at the thin watch on her wrist, "Hey."

"I just wanted to check," She could hear light music in the background, "Are you still up to dinner with my parent's tonight?"

"Yeah, I," She stuttered, not fully awake yet, "Sorry, I fell asleep. Had a weird dream. But yes, tonight at seven."

"Okay, good," Troy replied, "See you then."

"Yeah," She pushed herself up from the couch, only having about an hour and a half left for her to shower and do her hair and makeup, "Bye."

* * *

"Thank you so much for dinner Mrs. Bolton," Gabriella shivered slightly in the dark, "Thanks for inviting me."

"No problem," The woman gave her a stiff smile, Gabriella hadn't exactly won her over the first time around, "It's great to see you again."

"Okay Mom," Troy came out from the kitchen, some Tupperware tucked under his arm, "We better head out."

"Bye sweetie," She gave him a peck on the cheek when he gave her a hug, before turning around toward Alex, giving him a hug also, "I'll see you guys soon. Let me know when your next game is Alex."

"Will do Gram," Alex slid his shoes on his feet.

They finished up with their awkward goodbyes before stepping out. Troy had driven separately from her but walked with her to her car, "Thanks for coming tonight, even if they aren't all that excited about it."

"It's fine," She assured, sliding into her car but leaving the door open, "Gonna have to face them sometime, right?"

"Yeah," He shuffled his feet, leaning over to give her a quick kiss, "You want to grab some dinner tomorrow?"

"Sure," Since summer had started they'd been able to see each other a lot more than usual with Troy's non-existent schedule, "I'll ask Emma if she will watch Mia for me."

"Okay," He gave her one last peck on the cheek, "Give me a call when you get off of work."

"Got it," She stuck the key in the ignition, "Love you."

"Love you too Gabs," He waved as he backed away from her car, getting in his own with Alex. Gabriella started her car and drove down the road, away from Troy's parents house.

* * *

A loud buzz slowly awoke Troy from his sleep. It took him a while to register what was going on before realizing his phone was ringing. He sighed and picked it up, not bothering to check the number, "Hello?"

"Troy?"

He could barely make out the voice over the phone, but recognized it as Maria Montez's, "Maria?"

"Yeah, Troy," She had a slight panic in her voice, "Can you tell me where Gabriella was tonight?"

"Uh, yeah, she ate dinner with Alex and I at my parent's," He paused for a second, "Why, is something wrong?"

"I'm just having a difficult time tracking Emma and Mia," The panic was rising again, "I got a call from the hospital, Gabriella was in a car accident on her way home but I'm trying to contact Emma and Mia."

"Is she okay?" Troy jumped up immediately, sliding his jeans from the night up his legs, noting that he'd been home for almost two hours and that it was nearly one A.M.

"They said injuries appear to be minor but they're taking her in for testing," Maria's voice wavered, "Is there anyway you can get to them? I've tried calling Emma's cell and their home number a million times and nobody's answering."

"Yeah, I'm on my way," He slid his keys off his night stand and jogged down the stairs before heading back up to write a note for Alex just in case, "Where are you?"

"Marcus and I are in California visiting his kids, John's wife is about to pop any day now," She explained about her husband's child and wife, "Otherwise I'd be on top of this."

"No problem, I'll have Emma call you after we get to the hospital and figure out what's going on, okay?"

"That's fine," Maria rushed to end the conversation, "Just keep me updated, okay? That's my baby girl."

"Of course and Maria?" He stopped before she hung up, "I don't know how you got my number, but thanks for calling me."

"No problem Troy," Her voice softened before hardening again, "But take care of my daughter and my grandbabies, okay? I'm trusting you."

"I know Maria," He confirmed, "You can trust me. I have to go though, okay?"

"Yes, keep me updated, bye Troy."

"Bye Maria," He hung up his phone before speeding out of his driveway.

* * *

Troy approached Gabriella's house, noting that the lights were still on, a clear sign Gabriella hadn't been home and Emma had left the lights on waiting for her. He jumped out of his car, locking it, before punching in the code to get her garage door open. Slowly it slid up and he busted his way in the house.

He jogged up the steps, first to Emma's room. Both of their lights were out and they were asleep. Troy felt a little strange, never having been in Emma's room, but shook off the feeling. Gently and quietly he knelt down at the edge of her bed, placed a hand on her arm and shook slightly, "Emma, hey, wake up."

She stirred slightly, turning her head toward him, "Huh?"

"Emma, wake up," He shook a little more, trying not to startle her too much.

"Troy?" She clutched her sheet close to her chest, a little surprised.

"Hey," He spoke calmly, desperately not wanting to scare her too much knowing that she already would be upset after the news he was about to deliver.

"What are you doing here?"

"I need you not to panic, okay?" He clarified before he spoke, "Everything's going to be fine but your Mom got into a car accident on her way home."

"What? Where is she?" She tried to look around Troy into the hallway, "Is she okay?"

"That's why I'm here," Troy tried to assure, "She's in the hospital, I'm going to drive you there, she's going to be fine."

"Is she hurt?" Her lip started to quiver and even in the dark Troy could see it.

"I don't know," He shook his head, "Your grandma said when the hospital called they said the injuries were minor."

"Then how come she didn't call me?"

"Emma," Troy kept his calm, "I don't know. Why don't you put some clothes on, I'll wake Mia up, and then we can go to the hospital, okay?"

"Yeah, um," Emma was still trying to process what was going on, "Is she coming with us?"

"I don't know," Troy answered again, "Do you think we should bring her? We might be there a while, we could always drop her off with Alex to sleep a while longer and take her to the hospital in the morning."

"I think Mom would want her there but," She stopped, "I don't know if she's going to understand what's going on and if we're going to be there for a while…"

Troy watched as she trailed off, not really sure if she thought it was a good idea for Mia to come along or not, "Okay, why don't we just bring her with? I can always leave early with her and come back for you if need to, okay? It'll get us there faster."

"Okay."

* * *

Troy could see out of the corner of his eye that Emma was not convinced her mother was fine. Her eyes were wide and tired and her hands were shaking. Mia had fallen asleep in the backseat, not exactly registering what was going on because she was so tired.

"Em?" He tried to get her attention, it was a ten-minute drive down the freeway to the hospital, "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm-" She stopped, "Nervous? Scared?"

"I know," He reached over, squeezing her hand gently, "I'm a little scared too."

"Troy?" She questioned, "You weren't lying to me when you said she was fine, right?"

"Well, I haven't talked to her or a doctor, but your grandma said whatever injuries she has are minor," Troy repeated.

"I know, it's just-"

"I understand," Troy assured, "It's your Mom."

"It's just that," Her breath hitched, "I already lost one parent this year, I can't loose another."

"Everything's going to be fine Emma," Troy squeezed her hand again, "I promise."

Moments later Troy whipped around the parking lot, finding the closest spot to the door. Mia woke up from the startle of the car stopping and they trudged in together. The nurse at the front desk instructed them to the appropriate floor, informing them to check in at the nurse's station directly in front of the elevator when they got off. It was a little difficult to get any information out of the nurses once they arrived. It took them a while to clarify Gabriella was their mother since she had changed her name.

"It's not visiting hours," The nurse, no doubt a bit cranky from no sleep, said, "But frankly I'm not in the mood to argue with anyone right now. Take a seat while I pull up her information."

Troy lead them over to the waiting area, immediately Mia layed down across the couch, her tired eyes fluttering shut. A still tense Emma sat down on the other side of him, "How long do you think it's going to take?"

"I don't know," Troy shrugged, preoccupying himself by rubbing Mia's back gently, helping her fall asleep, "I guess it depends on what they're testing for."

Troy noticed another man in the waiting room and assumed he was there in a similar situation, presumably waiting for his wife. "Do you think she broke something?"

"It's possible," He lifted his arm up, wrapped it around her shoulder, and squeezed tightly. Emma's head fell on his shoulder, trying to absorb as much comfort as possible, "You know what? Your Mom's a tough cookie, it's gonna take a lot to really tear her down."

"I guess," There was a moment of silence drifting between them, Emma's eyes fluttered shut lightly for a second, preparing to fall asleep on Troy's shoulder.

"You know what else?" Troy asked before she lost consciousness.

"What?"

"I know it may not seem like it," He whispered softly, "But you're pretty tough too."

She opened her eyes again, "You think so?"

"Yeah," Troy replied, rubbing her shoulder a little bit, "I do."

"Thanks," Emma tried to fight the fatigue wafting over her.

"Go ahead," Troy whispered, noting her sleepiness, "Sleep a little. I'll wake you up when the doctor comes."

She didn't reply, simply closing her eyes.

* * *

About forty-five minutes later a man with a white coat stepped out of the corridor leading to the sterile rooms. He stopped for a moment, glanced at his clipboard, and announced, "Uh, Emma Schwartz?"

Troy's head lazily turned in his direction, he shrugged his shoulder to try and gently wake her up, "Emma, wake up, the doctor's here."

Soon enough her eyelids fluttered open, she rubbed her eyes gently, and stood up in her black sweatpants and red 'Wildcat's' gymnastics t-shirt. Troy nodded for her to go, knowing that he wouldn't get any information directly from the doctor. He observed as the doctor pulled pulled out what looked like an x-ray, pointing at something, and watched as Emma nodded as he explained some things to her. She looked pretty vulnerable as she crossed her arms over her stomach and glanced back at him as the doctor finished. She asked something, before turning around and walking toward him.

"He said she's awake, and we can go see her," She seemed a little better than before, "He wanted to know if we have any questions."

"Do you?" He asked rhetorically, "I'll get Mia, you can walk down with the doctor and have some time with her before we come in, okay?"

"Yeah," She nodded her head, "He said she has a concussion, she was in some brain imaging for a while, two broken ribs, and they think a broken leg. She had a cut on the top of her head that they had to put three stitches in."

"Okay, why don't you ask if she had her insurance card with her or if we need to find it? And how about how long she's going to have to stay for." Troy carefully stood from the couch.

Emma nodded her head, before spinning back around to the doctor. Troy watched as they padded down the hall, noting which door they turned into. Gently, he nudged Mia, trying to get her to awaken slightly.

"Mia, Come on, we're going to go see your Mom," He tried to get her to at least sit up, "Mia."

She still seemed a little out of it, but awoken none the less. Troy forced a chuckle before bending down to her level, "Do you want me to carry you?'

Mia nodded in response, and held her arms out. Wrapping her arms his neck and legs around his torso, he grunted gently. Her head fell on his shoulder and he attempted to shift her weight a bit, "Where are we going?"

"Your Mom's room," He whispered, knowing his face was near her ear. Very carefully he strode down the hall, knocking gently on the door. It was open a crack, so he stuck his head in, asking for permission to enter.

"Hey," He said softly, glancing over her quickly and setting a more awake Mia on the floor, "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that you guys are here," She tried to smile as Mia went in for a hug but couldn't move due to her positioning, and instead settled for a hair ruffle.

Her left leg was elevated, he assumed that was the broken one, she was dressed in a hospital gown, and stitches adorned her forehead. There were a few scratches on her arm and the bruises needed a little more time to form. An IV was stuck in her arm and some sort of monitor was beeping in the background. Troy made his way over, brushed some hair behind her ear, and kissed the top of her head, "Are you tired?"

"Yeah," Mia had already sat down in a chair, Emma had taken a seat upon the side of Gabriella's bed.

"Are you on any medications?" He stepped away from her bed again, leaning against a wall, "I bet it's not helping at all."

She nodded, "For my leg and my ribs. My head hurts like no other though."

"I bet," Troy agreed with her.

"Thanks for bringing them here," Gabriella closed her hand around Emma's and smiled, "It makes me feel a bit better, knowing they're safe."

"It's no problem," He shrugged, "We were all a bit worried. Speaking of being worried, I should probably give your Mom a call. She's been waiting a while for news. Mind if I step out for a few minutes?"

Gabriella shook her head. He'd noticed that he should probably give them some alone time for a little bit. Troy shuffled out of the room to the payphones he noted in the hall. Maria talked to him for a few minutes, assuring her daughter and grandkids were safe, before hanging up. He glanced at his watch, it was nearing three A.M.

He slid back in the room, Gabriella looked up at him, "Everything go okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Troy responded, "She's just worried. She's thinking about coming home a few days early."

Gabriella didn't seem to have much fight at the moment, Troy knew they were all tired and that, Gabriella especially, needed sleep, "I hate to say it but, I think we should go home and get some sleep."

Emma looked back at him, "I'll stay."

"Emma, sweetie," Gabriella refuted, "We all need sleep. Nurses and doctors are going to be coming and going all night."

"Please Mom?"

"Emma," Troy interjected, "I agree. We'll come back first thing tomorrow morning during visiting hours okay? You'll never get any sleep in that chair."

"Please?"

"Trust me I don't want to leave, I'm sure your Mom doesn't want to leave, but it'll be for the best," Troy's hand landed on her shoulder, "Get some sleep, shower, eat a little food. You'll be good as new tomorrow morning, okay?"

Reluctantly, Emma nodded. "Okay," She stood from the bed, took a few steps, and bent down over her Mom, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you sweetie," Gabriella responded, rubbing her back a little as she bent down for a hug and kissed her cheek.

"Love you too Mom," She replied, "Feel better, okay?"

"Mhm," Gabriella nodded, "Don't cause too much trouble for Troy, okay?"

"I won't," Emma assured, backing away.

Troy filled her spot, leaning down and giving her an actual kiss this time, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks again for all this," She carefully grabbed his hand, an unspoken decision had already been made, "You don't mind watching them."

"Not at all," He confirmed, "Now get some rest. I've got everything covered."

"Thanks," She repeated, he bent down to kiss her cheek, "I love you."

"Love you too El."

"Tell Mia I love her too," She nodded and laughed that she was asleep.

"Okay, I will."

* * *

**A/N: Well, there it is. Next chapter. I debated doing the whole car crash thing, it's kinda cliche and overused but I think I'm going to lead into it going in a different way than most stories do, and I think you're already seeing part of it, the much needed bonding between Troy and Emma. I'll also be taking it other places, but yeah, that's the start of it.**

**I'm pretty excited about the next chapter, hopefully it'll come out a lot sooner than this one did.**

**As always, thank you so much to my reviewers and readers. I really appreciate it.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: Per usual, I own nada**

"Troy?" Emma's head popped out from around the corner.

"Yeah," He set down the remote that was clasped in his hand and turned toward the direction of her voice. Her head stuck out from the top of the staircase.

"Do you mind if I go out to dinner with some friends tonight?"

"Umm," Troy glanced at his watch, he was supposed to swing by the hospital in an hour or so, "I don't see why not. Do you need a ride anywhere?"

"No!" Her voice squeeled from the staircase and fainted as she hiked the steps, "Michael is picking me up at seven."

"Okay then," He muttered sarcastically under his breath, he was quickly learning that girls were much different than boys. He'd only spent one night at Gabriella's house watching the girls, and boy had he learned a lot.

* * *

In typical teenage boy fashion, Michael was late, Emma didn't notice because she was busy getting ready and Troy sat with Mia on the couch.

He heard the pounding of feet come down the stairs, somehow girls had some sort of radar that allowed them to know when someone was waiting outside for them, that or a window overlooking the driveway.

"I'm leaving!" She shouted, not even waiting for a response before slamming the door shut on her way out. Troy stood from his perch, moving to lock the door before they left and sneaking a peek at this kid. He caught a glance of an old, dirty, red truck and got a shitty feeling in his stomach. Just like his own truck, there was only one row of seats, no one else would be joining them. Quickly recognizing the face as one of his junior's from last year he frowned, there were a lot of Michael's in the school, but he wasn't necessarily a big fan of this one.

* * *

"Hey," Gabriella smiled, more color had returned to her face, making her look a lot better than the previous two days, "You're back."

"Of course I am," Troy returned, with a kiss on her cheek, "And I may or may not have managed to sneak in some treats."

"Where's the rest of the troops?"

He sat a duffle bag on the foot of the bed, where her left foot should have been had it not been elevated, opening it up he pulled out a small container of Haagen-Dazs Java Chip ice cream. "Alex is still staying with his friend, I dropped off Mia at Jenny's birthday party like you told me too, and, don't kill me, but I think I let Emma go on a date with a senior."

"Really?" Gabriella's ears perked up and she grabbed a plastic spoon, "With who?"

"This Michael kid," He explained as he ripped off the plastic from the top of the ice cream, "Kinda surprised me actually. He was in my Euro class last year, not going to lie he was kind of a smart-ass, not exactly what I pictured Emma's type to be."

"She doesn't have a type," Gabriella waved her spoon, "Never had a boyfriend."

"Still," He shrugged, "Not someone I would picture her with."

"Where were they going?" She pestered, "Did she say?"

"No," Troy shook his head, "She asked if she could go out to dinner with some friends, I assumed she meant, like, her girl friends."

"I see," Gabriella nodded, "What's up with Alex? He got a girlfriend?"

"Eh, not really," He dipped his spoon in the ice cream, sitting on the edge of the bed, "He's kind of a flirt."

"Like you," She smirked at him, enjoying the light banter and conversation.

"Hey!" Troy exclaimed, holding his hands up in surrender "I was only a flirt until we started dating."

"Oh yeah," Gabriella rolled her eyes, "What about Annika? Huh? The foreign exchange student that was all over you all the time."

"That was all her," He said defensively and pointed at her, "And you said you weren't jealous."

"I wasn't," She shrugged, "She had a chest flatter than Iowa."

Troy chuckled and smiled softly at her, "You seem to be in better spirits."

Gabriella tried to adjust herself a little by pushing her body up with her hands, "I think it's cause they took me off that pain med that made me so tired. And guess what? They said they think I can go home tomorrow afternoon."

"That's great," His hand tickled up and down the inside of her leg, "Bet you can't wait to get out of here."

"My bed," She picked at the sheets a little, "And TV seem heavenly right now."

Troy took his time responding, lifting her arm to duck under her IV and wrap an arm around her shoulder, "And a little care from Troy Bolton?"

"Mmm," She nodded, ducking her head into his shoulder, "Of course."

"Cause I did such a good job the first time, right?"

Gabriella chuckled, recalling the time in high school when she spent a day or two in the hospital, "Damn copper IUD."

"Says the one who snuck behind her mother, and boyfriend's, back for birth control," He felt an elbow in his gut.

"I was not about to ask my Mom for birth control!" She exclaimed, "And how was I suppose to know I was allergic to copper? I've never been in contact with any amount of copper long enough to get a reaction."

Troy shook his head, chuckling a little, "I was so pissed, and embarrassed."

"No you weren't," She shook her head underneath his chin.

"Yeah I was, I just have a soft spot when you're sick."

"Did I tell you, the day of the accident, I had a dream about when I passed out at the school?"

"Really?"

"Yeah," Gabriella rested a hand on one of his legs, "Kinda strange, huh?"

* * *

After chatting and splitting some ice cream, Gabriella quickly fell asleep on his shoulder, still feeling the exhaustion of pain and concussion. Coincidentally, when he went to move five minutes later, she stirred from her sleep, moving a little to quickly, causing a rush of pain down her damaged ribs.

Troy helped her calm down, reassuring that he'd be back early in the morning to get the updates from her doctor, help her get ready to leave, and pick up any prescriptions from the hospital pharmacy.

He'd pulled the chair closer to the edge of the bed, clasping her left hand, and stayed until she fell asleep again as he'd promised. Just to be sure, he'd waited a few minutes after her steady breathing began.

The car ride led him straight to Alex's friend's house, dropping in to see him, and asking if he wanted to come spend the night in Gabriella's guest room. He'd refused and Troy left, not really blaming him for not wanting to come but feeling a little guilty handing over his son while he cared for his girlfriend.

Alex had been understanding though, enduring a quick trip to the hospital to wish her well. At some point, Troy knew that Alex would either have to come to Gabriella's house for a few days, or that he would have to leave her.

Troy arrived back sometime around ten, the lights still out and no sign of Emma's return. He decided to stay up a little longer, a bit anxious of Emma's arrival. Suddenly, he felt like the anxious overprotective father, waiting up for her to return home.

It took a while, but somewhere around eleven, he saw the headlights flood in through the window. That's when he realized he probably should have set some sort of curfew, or at least asked where she was going.

Troy knew that if the guy had no interest in Emma, and was simply a friend who'd leant her a drive, he wouldn't bother turning the car off and would watch her walk to the door from the driver's seat. From his personal experience, he knew it wasn't likely, and his suspicions were confirmed when the glowing flickered off. He was probably walking her to the door, waiting to plant a kiss.

He tried to ignore it and pay attention to the ESPN recap of the days tennis cup scores, but found that the announcers spoke too slow and with words he simply didn't understand. Softly, Troy heard the door click open and close again a few seconds later and the lights in the hallway that separated them flicked on. A buckle on Emma's purse clicked as it hit the tile floors before she noticed the glow of the television in the living room.

"Troy," She said to gain his attention, "You're still up."

"Yeah," He tried to act like he hadn't noticed her return, "Believe it or not, some teachers like to stay up late in the summer and watch ESPN."

Emma chuckled softly, plopping down in the leather chair adjacent to the couch, "Is Mia sleeping over at the party?"

"Mhm," Troy nodded, flipping the channel from ESPN to Fox Sports, "I'm supposed to pick her up at like nine tomorrow."

"'kay," She bit the corner of her lip out of awkwardness, "Did you go see Mom?"

"Yeah," He nodded some more, "She said her doctor is releasing her tomorrow afternoon."

"That's good," Emma smiled a bit, "Is she doing better?"

"She looks a lot better since they took her off that medication that made her so tired," Troy noted.

"Good."

A short silence wafted in the air, Troy clicked his tongue, then opened his mouth, "So, uh, where'd you go for dinner?"

"I can't remember the name," She looked as though she was trying to concentrate, "You know that place across the street from McDonalds?"

"Oh, uh," He held his hand to his head, having the name on the tip of his tongue, "It's like, Khorey's or something right? Spelled real funky."

"Yeah," She snapped her fingers and nodded her head, "That's it."

"I think I've been there once," Troy paused, trying to think when, "Probably after a meeting with the English department or something. The food seemed decent."

"Uh-huh, it was fine."

"So you had a good time?" He questioned her, not wanting to pry too much.

"Yeah," She bit her lip, a half smile tugging on the opposite corner.

"Did you go anywhere else?" Troy smirked at her, "Any big parties I should make sure my son's not at?"

"No!" She squeeled, "We just went to a friends house and watched _The Hangover."_

"I'm kidding Emma," He assured, "You know, back in the day, your Mom and I were quite the party animals."

"No way," Her eyes widened, "Mom said she didn't party."

Troy stretched back with a smirk on his face, "She didn't, until I brought her with me to one after work one day. She didn't drink much though, but I didn't either."

"Sounds like Mom."

He laughed, "Yep, boring mother you've got there. She managed to tame me quite a bit senior year."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's probably the reason I ended up at college. She really helped me get my shit together to get the scholarships I needed to play ball."

"Interesting," Emma held her head up with her hand, elbow bent on the arm of the couch, "I think I'm going to head up, go to bed."

"Okay," Troy watched her stand, "You want to come with me to the hospital tomorrow morning?

"Sure," She turned around, slowly walking backwards, "Give me like, an hour warning before we leave."

Right. Girls need time to get ready in the morning. She continued retreating to the stairs, "Oh, and Emma," He stopped her, "You can tell me when you're going on a date, I'm not gonna freak out or not let you go or anything."

Troy saw her come to a dead stop and gnaw at her lip before responding, "How'd you know?"

"I'm a guy," He shrugged, "I have a teenage son. Saw you two leave when I locked the door."

"You weren't spying on me?" She tried to clarify.

"I swear," He held his hands up, "Just don't be like your mother, having a secret boyfriend for six months. Doesn't blow over well with parents."

Her eyebrows raised, she contemplated the statement for a moment, then let out a little chuckle, "Okay, I won't, see you in the morning."

He wasn't even joking, that had been one of the most embarrassing days of his life.

_Troy sat in the waiting room, it'd been nearly an hour since they'd arrived and he couldn't get a word out of any nurse or doctor. The waiting room was empty, well after visiting hours. A black haired woman entered, heels clicking on the floor, cell phone clasped to her ear._

"_Yes Jonathon, I'll have to follow up with you later, I'm at the hospital and all these nurses are giving me dirty looks."_

_The skin tone and hair color matched almost exactly that of his girlfriends. Her pencil skirt showed off the rounded form of her backside, a little too tight for her age. His suspicions were confirmed when she spoke the name Gabriella to the receptionist._

_He watched as the nurse pulled out some paperwork, and Gabriella's mother pulled out her wallet, depositing an I.D. and he was assuming an insurance card. She sighed glancing over the paperwork, picking up a pen out of the mug on the counter, and retreating to a chair an appropriate distance from him. Her face was creased with wrinkles, the long hours Gabriella told him about, waking up at two in the morning for conference calls from Thailand and other countries._

_Seeing that she wasn't going to get up and introduce herself anytime soon, she probably just didn't recognize his face or was to caught up in the paperwork to glance his way, he used the arms of the chair to push his exhausted body up. When he found himself in front of her, he cleared his throat gently, "Um, Ms. Montez."_

_She didn't bother to avert her gaze from the clipboard she was holding, "No one's called me that for years, but what do you need?"_

_Right. The divorce. Way to make a good first impression, he mentally beat his head. "I'm Troy, I thought I'd come over and introduce myself," He held his hand out for a shake._

_Ms. Montez, or whatever her name was, glanced at his hand before averting to his face. Tentatively, she grasped it and cleared her throat, "I don't mean to be rude, but I don't really have time to chat, I'm here to see my daughter."_

"_Yeah, Gabriella, right?" Troy took a nervous glance around the waiting room, "I mean, you're her mother, right?"_

"_Yes," She slid the pen over the sturdy board, "I'm sorry, have we meet before?"_

"_No," He shook his head, "I'm Troy, Troy Bolton. I drove your daughter here. I'm her-"_

"_Oh, dear, I'm sorry," She stood up, glancing at the nurses station in impatience, "You should have said that. Thank you very much. I'm sorry again, but I should go see her now."_

"_Wait miss," He carefully grasped onto her thin bicep, "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."_

"_Maria, my name's Maria."_

"_Yes, Maria, I was just wondering if I could get an update, I've been waiting over an hour," He begged, trying to figure out what was going on, not completely sure if he was dreaming or not, "Gabriella must have mentioned something about me."_

"_I haven't been able to talk to her since she arrived," Her hand reached out, rubbing his shoulder gently, "I'll tell her you stopped by, have her give you a call when she's feeling better. You should go home, it's getting late, there's school tomorrow. I'm sure your parents must be wondering where you are."_

"_Okay," He didn't seem to have any other option, but he was frozen anyways, "Tell her I hope that she gets better soon."_

"_Will do," And with that, she left for the nurses station, leaving him in the cool draft of the hospital._

_He'd never felt greater confusion in his life._

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, I can't believe it's been almost two months since I've updated any of my stories. Really, I'm not going to give any excuses except for my own selfish reasons so... And the fact that every time I look at this chapter all I can think is CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE.**

**Of course, thanks to my ritualistic reviewers, you're the best.**


End file.
